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THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR THE PROJECT CONNECT AUSTIN, UM, JOINT ANNUAL PARTNERSHIP MEETING OF THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL, THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND THE CAPITAL METRO BOARD OF DIRECTORS ON BEHALF OF THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
I WILL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER TODAY'S WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH, AND THE TIME IS 1:11 PM MAYOR, WOULD YOU LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER NEXT? AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL HERE TODAY, PARTICIPATING IN THE ANNUAL JOINT PARTNERSHIP MEETING ON NOVEMBER 30TH, 2022, AND WE'RE READY TO PROCEED.
THANK YOU, MAYOR CHAIR PAVILION, AND ON BEHALF OF THE CAP METRO BOARD, I'VE BEEN INFORMED THAT WE HAVE A QUORUM AS WELL.
SO I CALL THIS MEETING THE ORDER AT ONE 12.
IN THIS PERIOD OF TIME, BECAUSE I KNOW SOME OF YOU HAVE A REALLY HARD STOP AT 3:30 PM UH, AND WE'RE STARTING ABOUT 10 MINUTES LATE.
I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP OUR REMARKS BRIEF, BUT ALSO, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME EVERYONE AND IN THE SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING, AND WE JUST CELEBRATED THANKSGIVING LAST WEEK.
I AM HERE AS A DEEP HONOR AND GRATITUDE TO ALL OF YOU FOR CARVING OUT THE TIME TO JOIN US, TO LEARN ABOUT THE SUCCESSES WE'VE HAD THIS YEAR IN ADVANCING THIS IMPORTANT PROGRAM FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO PASS IT ON TO YOU FOR ANY OPENING REMARKS, MEMBER OF PAVILION.
I'M GOING TO SURPRISE EVERYBODY AND NOT TALK A LOT.
UM, I THINK THAT, UM, THAT WE HAVE HAD AN INCREDIBLE YEAR.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO GIVE OUR, OUR STAFF AND, AND, UH, THE FOLKS THAT ARE WORKING WITH US, THE OPPORTUNITY TO TELL THAT STORY.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, UM, WE HAVE BEEN, UH, LOOKING FORWARD TO NOT ONLY WORKING TOGETHER, UH, BUT BUILDING A FUTURE FOR AUSTIN.
SO, UM, I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING ALL OF THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE SAID AND THEN REFLECTING ON 'EM AND FIGURING OUT WHERE WE GO FROM THERE.
THANK YOU, CHAIR PAVILION, MAYOR ADLER, UH, APPRECIATE, UH, YOUR LEADERSHIP, UH, COMMISSIONER'S, UH, LEADERSHIP AND EVERYBODY ELSE HERE.
UH, INCREDIBLE YEAR TO GO THROUGH IN TERMS OF, UH, TRANSITIONS AND, AND, AND, AND MEETING THE MOMENT.
IT'S GOING TO BE A YEAR THAT WE APPROACH, UH, THAT'S ALSO GOING TO REQUIRE A LOT OF, UH, WORK, UH, AS WE GO THROUGH ADDITIONAL TRANSITIONS, AS WE FIGURE OUT HOW IT IS WE LAND THIS PROJECT IN A WAY THAT, THAT MEETS THE, THE PROMISES AND THE POTENTIAL, UH, BUT ALSO DOES IT IN A WAY THAT DOES JUSTICE BY OUR, BY OUR TAXPAYERS.
I KNOW WE CAN DO IT, AND ANXIOUS, UM, TO, TO WATCH THIS PROCESS PROCEED.
AS A REMINDER, THE JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT CALLS FOR THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP TO CONVENE AN ANNUAL MEETING OF THE THREE PARTIES TO REVIEW THE STATUS OF PROJECT CONNECT, INCLUDING SEVERAL REQUIRED COMPONENTS THAT YOU'LL SEE PRESENTED AS WELL AS HIGHLIGHTED IN THE 2022 ANNUAL MANAGEMENT REPORT, A COPY OF WHICH YOU WILL FIND IN FRONT OF YOU.
AND THE AUDIENCE MAY FIND THE ANNUAL MANAGEMENT REPORT ON ATP'S WEBSITE@WWW.ATPTX.ORG.
WE ARE DELIGHTED TO CONVENE WITH YOU TODAY, AND TODAY'S CONVERSATION IS ASSIGNED TO ENCOURAGE DIALOGUE AS WE MARK THE SECOND YEAR OF THIS IMPORTANT PROJECT TO LEARN AND SHARE WITH ONE ANOTHER.
ALSO, AT THE END OF THIS MEETING, AS WE WAIT FOR A COUPLE OF MORE COUNCIL MEMBERS, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A CELEBRATION OF THEIR LEADERSHIP.
SO PLEASE STAY, UM, FOR A COMMEMORATIVE PHOTO AT THE END.
SO PLEASE DON'T, DON'T RUSH OUT AND LEAVE US.
[1. Staff briefing and discussion on the Project Connect Annual Management Report. No action will be taken.]
GONNA JUMP RIGHT AWAY TO THE ANNUAL MANAGEMENT REPORT.SO WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, I WILL START WITH THE PRESENTATION, AND I'D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE STAFF OF THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, THE STAFF OF CAPITAL METRO, AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WHO'S JOINING US TO PRESENT THE PROJECT CONNECT ANNUAL MANAGEMENT REPORT.
SO, GREG, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO YOU.
UM, AND IN THE, UH, IN THE SPIRIT OF, OF BREVITY, UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, I JUST WANNA ALSO THANK, UH, AND ACKNOWLEDGE CITY MANAGER CRONK, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER VON DACA, AND CAPTAIN NATURAL CEO, UH, DOTTY WATKINS.
I THINK WHAT YOU'LL SEE TODAY IS REALLY THIS PARTNERSHIP AND ACTION AS WE FORMED AND MATURED OUR RELATIONSHIP OVER THIS PAST, UH, THIS PAST YEAR.
UM, AND WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT SOME OF OUR SUCCESSES, TALK ABOUT HOW WE'RE MOVING FORWARD, BUT WE'RE REAL EXCITED ABOUT, UM, THE FRAMEWORK AND THE FRIENDSHIPS AND THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE FORMED IN THESE PARTNERSHIPS OVER THESE LAST MONTHS.
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SO, I'LL JUST QUICKLY BEFORE WE START, IT'S OKAY.JUST ACKNOWLEDGE, UM, GENE OR DOTTY, IF YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING BEFORE WE BEGIN THIS FIRST AGENDA ON THE ANNUAL REPORT.
UM, DOTTY WATKINS, INTERIM CEO FOR CAP METRO, AND JUST WANTED TO, BEFORE WE HAVE STAFF, DIVE INTO THE REPORT TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WE ACCOMPLISH.
REMIND EVERYONE THAT THIS IS A VERY LONG TERM PROGRAM THAT WE ARE IN YEAR TWO, AND SO WHILE WE ARE VERY PROUD OF ALL OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE, WE KNOW THERE'S STILL A WHOLE LOT MORE LEFT TO GO.
UM, CAT METRO HAS BEEN VERY INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS AS, UM, ONE OF THE FUNDERS OF PROJECT CONNECT AND BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DELIVERY OF SOME OF ITS KEY ELEMENTS, INCLUDING ITS, UM, EARLY PROGRAMS SUCH AS METRO RAIL IMPROVEMENTS AND METRO RAPID.
UM, WE HAVE, IT HAS BEEN, UM, OUR PLEASURE TO, TO PARTNER WITH THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP AND THE CITY FOLKS, UM, TO DESIGN THESE ELEMENTS.
UM, IT'S ALWAYS IMPORTANT THAT WE TALK ABOUT THE PROGRAM AS A WHOLE.
AND SO I'M EXCITED TO HEAR, UM, STAFF FROM EACH OF THE, THE THREE PARTNERS TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED.
UM, THE, THE FOLKS THAT YOU SEE BEFORE US, UM, JOIN OUR TEAMS THAT WORK AROUND THE CLOCK TO SUPPORT, UM, TRANSIT IN THIS COMMUNITY, BOTH TODAY AND THE FUTURE EXPANSIONS.
UM, THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT WE HIGHLIGHT TODAY ARE NOT THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THOSE OF US SITTING UP HERE, BUT THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OUR VERY TALENTED STAFF.
UM, AND ON BEHALF OF THE COMMUNITY, I'M PROUD TO BE A PART OF AN ORGANIZATION THAT GETS TO SUPPORT THIS TEAM.
UM, FINALLY, I WANNA THANK THE GOVERNING BODIES MOST, ESPECIALLY THE CAT METRO BOARD, UH, FOR SUPPORTING THE PROGRAM, ASKING THE TOUGH QUESTIONS AND BEING OUR CHAMPIONS YEAR ROUND.
UM, SO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO HIGHLIGHT OUR WORK ON THIS PARTNERSHIP.
WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CONVERSATION.
AND, UM, THANK, THANK YOU CHAIR AND GREG.
UM, I JUST WANNA REALLY TAKE A MOMENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE ALL THE HARD WORK THAT'S BROUGHT US TO THE POINT WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE CELEBRATED SOME COUNCIL ACTION A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO THAT, YOU KNOW, MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENTS AND, AND MEANINGFUL, UM, INITIATIVES THAT ARE, ARE MOVING THIS PROJECT FORWARD.
AND WHAT WE SEE BEFORE US ARE THE STAFFS THAT ARE GATHERED TOGETHER.
UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD, UH, THE COLLECTION OF, OF STAFF TALENT THAT WE HAVE RIGHT HERE COLLECTIVELY PRESENTING, BUT THIS EMBODIES THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE PARTNERSHIP.
UM, SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, TWO SHORT YEARS AGO THAT UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MANAGER CRONK, WE ASSEMBLED THE CITY TEAM TO SUPPORT PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, AND SO WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT WHAT WE HAVE HERE AND TO MOVE THIS PROJECT FORWARD THAT OUR, OUR COMMUNITY HAS TRUSTED US WITH.
I WANT TO THANK OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE CAP METRO BOARD FOR, UH, FOR, FOR CONVENING THIS GROUP AND FOR GIVING THE CITY DIRECTION TO PROVIDE THE, THE TRANSIT AND THE MOBILITY, UM, OPTIONS AND CHOICES THAT OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS.
WELL, WITH THAT, AGAIN, THANKS EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE, AND WE'LL GET STARTED.
AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, IN FRONT OF US, FAR IN FRONT OF US, UM, WE HAVE A COLLECTION OF ATP CAP METRO CITY OF AUSTIN STAFF, AND WE'RE JOINED BY THE CHAIR OF THE CAC, UM, AS WELL.
UM, TODAY WE WANT TO HAVE A DIALOGUE WITH YOU ABOUT WHERE WE ARE ON PROJECT CONNECT AND HOW WE'VE ADVANCED THIS PROGRAM OVER THESE EARLY YEARS.
UM, AND SO THIS FIRST AGENDA ITEM IS REALLY RECAPPING WHERE WE ARE, SOME OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS WE'VE HAD AND SOME OF THE EMERGING TOPICS WE'VE HAD.
SO ON SLIDE FOUR, UM, WE'RE GONNA SHORT FOCUS ON EQUITY AS WE KNOW, UM, PROJECT CONNECT WAS BUILT OFF OF, UM, OUR COMMUNITY'S VALUES, UH, ABOUT EQUITY AND ADVANCING EQUITY FOR AUSTIN.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE START THERE TODAY WITH THE CONVERSATION.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A, UH, CONVERSATION ABOUT WHERE WE ARE IN SOME OF THE OTHER PROJECT, UH, ELEMENTS, UH, BESIDES LIGHT RAIL, UH, SOME OF THE PROGRESS WE'VE MADE ON THOSE.
TALK ABOUT THE EMERGING TOPIC ON, ON THE, UH, IN THE EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.
UH, AND THEN THE DISPLACEMENT, AS WE KNOW, UM, AUSTIN IS UNIQUE IN THE COUNTRY THAT WE, UM, WERE ABLE TO, WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE CAPITAL METRO BOARD TO INVEST IN, UM, DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION AS PART OF A TRANSIT ELECTION.
IT WAS REALLY THE FIRST THAT HAD HAPPENED IN THIS COUNTRY.
UM, WE CERTAINLY, LIKE YOU GET A LOT OF COMMENTS ABOUT HOW DID WE DO THAT, AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TODAY, IF WE CAN, WE'LL SPEND SOME TIME TALKING ABOUT THE PROGRESS ON, ON THAT, THOSE EFFORTS AS WELL.
AND THEN FINALLY TALK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE WITH OUR COMMUNITY AND HOW WE CONTINUE TO WORK AND ADVANCE ALL OF THESE TOPICS WITH OUR COMMUNITY.
SO WITH THAT, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO COURTNEY CHAVEZ WITH OUR, UH, SHE'S OUR DIVERSITY INCLUSION EQUITY OFFICER WITH THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
IT'S I AM COURTNEY CHAVEZ, DIRECTOR OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION AT AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
UM, NICE TO SEE YOU ALL TODAY.
EXCITING TO KICK OFF THIS, THIS BIG DISCUSSION.
UM, SO AS GREG SAID, WE ARE STARTING ON A CONVERSATION
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AROUND EQUITY.IT'S LIKE WE'RE CONTINUING THAT CONVERSATION ON EQUITY BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN HAVING IT PRETTY EXTENSIVELY AND CONSISTENTLY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
UH, WHAT YOU'LL SEE ON THE SCREEN IS A JOINT COMMITMENT TO EQUITY GOAL GOALS AND METRICS.
ESSENTIALLY, THIS IS A PULLOUT FROM THE JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT THAT REQUIRES ALL OF THE BODIES HERE TO LOOK AT AND BRING FORWARD THE KEY, UH, GOALS AND METRICS THAT WE'RE GONNA USE IN ORDER TO MONITOR THE FORWARD LOOKING PROGRESS OF THIS PROJECT.
SO AS WE MOVE FORWARD INTO 2023, WE'RE GOING TO START TO BRING ALIGNMENT BETWEEN ALL THREE BODIES TO IDENTIFY WHAT THOSE KEY GOALS AND METRICS ARE, HOW WE'RE GONNA MEASURE THEM, HOW IT BUILDS INTO THE PROCESS OF DECISION MAKING FOR THE OPTIONS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE PUTTING FORWARD, AND ALSO AGREEMENT ON THE OUTCOMES WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
AND SO I SAY THIS, AND I'M USING THIS SLIDE NOT AS AN EDUCATIONAL PIECE BECAUSE WHAT I SEE WHEN I'M LOOKING AT ALL OF YOU IS THAT WE ALL HAVE A GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT EQUITY MEANS IN THIS WORK.
WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN POLICIES, WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN PRACTICES, WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN VISIONS OF WHAT WE WANT IT TO BE IN PROJECT CONNECT.
WHERE WE NEED TO GET TO IS ALIGNMENT AND AN OVERARCHING VISION SO THAT WE CAN BE CLEAR ON THE MEASURES, WE CAN BE, BRING CLARITY TO THE WORDS THAT WE'RE USING BECAUSE WE USE EQUITY PRETTY CONSISTENTLY THROUGHOUT ALL OF OUR DOCUMENTS.
UM, IN THAT SENSE, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACTS AND OUTCOMES THAT WE WANT TO SEE WHAT OUR VALUES ARE FOR THIS PROJECT.
AVES IS HAR CHAIR OF THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE OR CAC.
I, I JUST WANT TO MENTION THAT REALLY, YOU KNOW, FIRST I WANNA THANK ALL THE COMMUNITY LEADERS HERE AND ALL THE FOLKS THAT PUT IN ALL THIS EFFORT ON EQUITY AND MAKING SURE THAT WE WERE FOCUSED ON THIS EFFORT.
AND I ALSO WANT TO THANK OUR STAFF FOR THE WORK THEY'VE DONE, DONE SINCE TO REALLY MAKE PROGRESS ON THAT GOAL.
SO AS A COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN PART OF THIS PROCESS THROUGH OUR WORKING GROUPS AND OTHER THINGS IN DEFINING WHAT THOSE METRICS LOOK LIKE.
WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PRACTICES, HOW DO WE MAKE IT MORE COMMUNITY FACING? SO IT'S BEEN AN EXCITING TIME WORKING WITH OUR STAFF TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE REALLY MOVING TOWARDS MEANINGFUL PROGRESS ON THE EQUITY RELATED GOALS OF THE OVERALL PROJECT.
WE ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A LONG TERM PART OF THE WORK.
THIS WILL BE AN ONGOING PIECE OF THE WORK THROUGH THE ENTIRE LIFETIME OF PROJECT CONNECT AND ALL THE DIFFERENT INFRASTRUCTURE WORK THAT WE WILL HAVE TO DO.
SO WE REALIZE THAT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO QUICKLY AND IMMEDIATELY.
AND THE LAST THING I'LL JUST SAY IS I THINK, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE DOING THIS GREAT INTERNAL WORK THAT COURTNEY AND TEAM WILL BE PRESENTING AND GREG TALKED ABOUT, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT HOW DO WE MAKE THIS WORK MORE COMMUNITY FACING SO THAT OUR EQUITY PIECE BECOMES MORE COMMUNITY FACING AND WE CAN BUILD THE, BRING IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND A LOT OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'RE HAVING, AND MORE AND MORE WE'RE SEEING IN THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT FOLKS ARE EXCITED TO SEE THE WORK THAT IS HAPPENING.
SO TO THAT END, YOU'VE SEEN THE GLOBAL VIEW OF EQUITY WITHIN THE PROJECT ITSELF AND WHERE WE'RE HEADING.
SO I'M TAKING A STEP BACK AND GETTING GRANULAR WITH EACH PIECE OF WHERE WE'RE HEADING WITH EQUITY WITHIN ATP ITSELF.
AND SO AS WE BUILD THIS STRATEGY, BECAUSE WE'RE STILL A YOUNG ORGANIZATION WHERE WE CANNOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE SIDE OF EQUITY, ALONG WITH THE EXTERNAL OUTPUTS.
SO ALL OF IT COMBINES TOGETHER.
IT MATTERS WHO'S AT THE TABLE, IT MATTERS WHAT OUR PRACTICES AND POLICIES ARE INTERNALLY, THAT THEN FEEDS INTO HOW WE ARE GONNA DELIVER THE LIGHT BULB PROJECT.
AND SO TO THAT END, WE'RE STILL BUILDING, WE'RE STILL YOUNG, WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH OUR POLICIES, MOVING, MOVING TRAINING FORWARD, AND FIGURING OUT ALL OF THE ASPECTS OF EQUITY THAT WILL EMBED SO THAT EVENTUALLY EVERY PERSON THAT SITS HERE TODAY WILL BE AN EQUITY EXPERT ALONG WITH ME.
SO GETTING EVEN A LITTLE BIT MORE GRANULAR, UM, IT WAS MENTIONED THAT WE HAVE SPECIFIC REPORT OUTS WHEN IT COMES TO WORKFORCE AND EQUITY POLICIES AND UPDATES.
AND SO THIS IS THE MORE EXTERNAL FOCUSED VIEW OF WHAT EQUITY IS FOR THE PROJECT FROM AN ATP PERSPECTIVE.
SO A LOT OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS THIS YEAR AS WE WERE BUILDING, WE HAD OUR TITLE SIX PROGRAM PLAN ADOPTED, WHICH IS THE BASELINE OF EQUITY.
UM, IT'S WHERE DEI POLICIES COME FROM.
UM, WE'VE ADOPTED AND IMPLEMENTED OUR DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM, WHICH IS, UM, IN LINE WITH FEDERAL REGULATIONS.
SO WE ARE ABLE TO PUT GOALS ON CONTRACTS AND START TO BUILD OUT THAT PROGRAM MORE EXTENSIVELY.
UM, I HAVE HERE WE'VE INITIATED WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES.
SO WITHIN THE JPA THERE ARE VERY SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO BETTER BUILDER, UM, SOME OTHER CON CONSTRUCTION CAREERS PROGRAMS. SO THOSE WILL BE MORE CONNECTED TO WHEN WE GET TO THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE BUSINESS IMPACT FUND AS WELL.
UH, WHAT WE'RE STARTING HERE NOW IS SETTING UP A, AN ECOSYSTEM OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT WHERE WE CAN LOOK AT A, A WAY THAT WILL BUILD A MOBILITY WORKFORCE PROCESS FOR THE COMMUNITY HERE.
THAT MEANS ENSURING THAT PEOPLE IN COMMUNITY WHO
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WANT TO GET JOBS HAVE ACCESS TO NOT ONLY CONSTRUCTION JOBS, BUT CAN MOVE INTO CAT METRO JOBS FOR OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE CAN POTENTIALLY MOVE INTO OTHER JOBS AROUND.AND THAT WE'RE GONNA BUILD A PIPELINE THAT ENCOURAGES ADVANCEMENT AS WE GO.
SO WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF BUILDING THAT NOW FOR ATP ITSELF.
WE'VE BEGUN OUR ILA WITH WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS, GETTING SOME, UM, CONVERSATIONS GOING THERE TO SUPPORT THE CAP METRO ILA THAT WAS ADOPTED RECENTLY.
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THAT EVOLVE AS WE GET INTO THE NEXT YEAR.
UM, FINALLY STRENGTHENING OUR PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION WITH THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S ACTUALLY VERY NEAR TO THE WORK THAT I DO BECAUSE I NOW EXTENSIVELY RELY ON THE CAC FOR A LOT OF DISCUSSION AND, UM, DIALOGUE AS WE KEEP GOING.
AND SO I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT THE CAC HAS DONE.
MY NAME IS MOLLY KING AND I'M THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF PROJECT CONNECT INTEGRATION FOR CAP METRO.
I'M ALSO JOINED TODAY BY MY COLLEAGUE, CHARMILLA MUKERJI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR CA METRO.
I'M PLEASED TO SHARE IT WITH YOU TODAY, THE MONUMENTAL PROGRESS THAT CAT METRO HAS MADE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ATP IN THE CITY.
IN SUPPORT OF THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM, WE CONTINUE TO CHAMPION EXPANDED TRANSIT SERVICE FOR OUR COMMUNITY WITH THE GOAL OF DELIVERING THESE NEW SERVICES AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO SERVE AND CONNECT THE CITY.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, PROJECT CONNECT IS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST BRINGING LIGHT RAIL TO AUSTIN.
THERE ARE MORE IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR EXISTING TRANSIT NETWORK THAT WE'RE BRINGING TO THE COMMUNITY.
AS PART OF PROJECT CONNECT, SPANNING BUS AND COMMUTER RAIL SERVICES, WE HAVE THREE METRO RAIL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS UNDERWAY, THE FIRST OF WHICH HAS REACHED SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION LAKELINE TO LEAN LEANDER DOUBLE TRACKING WAS THE FIRST CAPITAL PROJECT OF THE PROGRAM TO BREAK GROUND BACK IN SEPTEMBER, 2021.
IT DELIVERS ON THE COMMITMENTS OF PROJECT CONNECT TO PROVIDE IMPROVED SERVICE IN THIS CORRIDOR, PROVIDING ANOTHER SET OF TRACKS ON THE EXISTING METRO RAIL RED LINE BETWEEN THE LAKELINE AND LEANER STATIONS.
THIS ALLOWS FOR IMPROVED SERVICE, INCLUDING REDUCED TRAVEL TIME ALONG THE RED LINE.
WE ARE EXCITED TO SAY THAT WE ARE NEARLY COMPLETE AND ANTICIPATE HOSTING A RIBBON CUTTING IN EARLY 2023.
ADDITIONALLY, MANY OF YOU JOINED US OVER THE SUMMER AT A GROUNDBREAKING CELEBRATION FOR THE MUCH ANTICIPATED MCCULLOUGH STATION.
THE STATION WILL NOT ONLY SERVE THE Q2 STADIUM, BUT ALSO BETTER CONNECT THE GROWING COMMUNITY AROUND THE STADIUM TO OUR TRANSIT NETWORK.
I'M PROUD TO SAY THAT THIS PROJECT CONTINUES TO BE ON TIME AND ON BUDGET, AND IT IS ANTICIPATED TO OPEN IN TIME FOR THE 2024 AUSTIN FC SEASON.
TO THAT, I SAY LEAST DOSE VERDE.
FINALLY, WE BROKE GROUND ON THE BROAD MO STATION, A P THREE PROJECT THAT WILL BE COMPLETED IN EARLY 2024.
THIS NEW STATION WILL PROVIDE GREAT ACCESS TO AND FROM THE QUICKLY GROWING AREA AROUND THE DOMAIN, INCLUDING THE UPTOWN ATX DEVELOPMENT.
SOME OF YOU HAVE SEEN THIS VIDEO BEFORE, BUT IT IS ALWAYS SO EXCITING TO SEE CONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS.
THIS VIDEO IS TAKEN ONSITE AT I'M GRATEFUL TO OUR TEAM FOR WORKING SO HARD TO GET US TO THIS POINT WHERE WE ARE BUILDING AND TRULY DELIVERING BENEFITS FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
IN ADDITION TO THESE COMMUTER RAIL PROJECTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION, WE HAVE TWO ADDITIONAL CAPITAL INVESTMENTS FOR THE RED LINE.
FIRST, QUIET ZONES WILL IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR FOLKS LIVING ADJACENT TO THE RED LINE BY REDUCING THE FREQUENCY OF TRAIN HORNS.
EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, THESE QUIET ZONES ARE COUPLED WITH SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ENHANCEMENTS OF THE CROSSING ITSELF THEMSELVES, WHICH IS ALWAYS A PRIORITY FOR CAP METRO.
SECOND, WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THE DESIGN OF AN UNDERPASS FOR COMMUTER AND FREIGHT RAIL SERVICE NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF AIRPORT AND LAMAR.
TRAFFIC IN THIS AREA PAIRED WITH RAIL ACTIVITY IS A CHALLENGE FOR MOBILITY AND SAFETY, AS WE ALL KNOW.
IN ADDITION, THIS WOULD POTENTIALLY CONTRIBUTE TO COST SAVINGS FOR THE PROPOSED LIGHT RAIL ALIGNMENT THIS YEAR.
WE'VE ADVANCED INITIAL DESIGN WORK FOR THIS FUTURE SAFETY AND MOBILITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT AND OUR ANTICIPATING ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE IN THE COMING WEEKS AHEAD OF SUBMITTING A GRANT.
TO COMPLETE THIS PROJECT, I WANNA THANK OUR PARTNERS AT THE CITY ATP AND ALSO AT TECH DOT FOR WORKING THROUGH THIS OPPORTUNITY WITH US.
IN ADDITION TO OUR RED LINE IMPROVEMENTS, PROJECT CONNECTS FIRST TWO METRO RAPID LINES ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, AND WE ARE MAKING GREAT PROGRESS TO BRING ALL ELECTRIC BUSES TO SERVE THEM.
OUR PLEASANT VALLEY AND EXPO CENTER METRO RAPID LINES
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ARE A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT IN THE EQUITABLE TRANSIT IN OUR COMMUNITY, AND WE ARE PROUD OF THE CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS WE ARE MAKING ON BOTH.WE'VE COMPLETED NINE STATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO PROJECTS AND 16 STATIONS ARE CURRENTLY IN THE CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE.
AND I CAN'T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH HOW EXCITING IT IS THAT THESE LINES WILL FEATURE AN ALL-ELECTRIC FLEET.
WE HAVE BUSES CURRENTLY ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE AT TWO DIFFERENT PLANTS AND ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO BRINGING SOME OF THE SHINY NEW ELECTRIC BUS SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY IN 2023.
I WOULD BE REMISS TO MOVE OFF THE SLIDE WITHOUT EXPRESSING MY APPRECIATION FOR OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY AND ATP ON METRO RAPID.
WE'RE EXTREMELY THANKFUL FOR THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THIS WORK, BOTH THROUGH THE PERMITTING PROCESSES OF COURSE, BUT ALSO THROUGH THEIR INVESTMENT AND ADDITIONAL MOBILITY AND UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS AS PART OF THE METRO RAPID PROJECTS.
AND IT IS TRUE THAT PROJECT CONNECT IS A TRANSIT EXPANSION PROGRAM, BUT THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY BENEFITS FROM IT, ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE INVESTMENT IN HIGH QUALITY BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE, NEW TRAFFIC AND PEDESTRIAN SIGNALS, AND IMPROVED UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE.
FINALLY, IN TERMS OF CAPITAL PROJECTS, WE ARE CONTINUING THE FINAL STAGES OF DESIGN FOR THE PARK AND RIDE FACILITIES.
THESE PARK AND RIDES ARE CRITICAL ANCHOR POINTS AT THE END OF THE METRO RAPID LINES, AND THEY PROVIDE CONVENIENT ACCESS TO TRANSIT FOR CUSTOMERS WHO AREN'T WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE.
THEY ALSO SUPPORT OUR ELECTRIC VEHICLES WITH OVERHEAD CHARGING, KEEPING OUR BUSES MOVING FOR LONGER PERIODS OF TIME.
THE CAP METRO BOARD AUTHORIZED THE PURCHASE OF EIGHT ACRES OF EXPO CENTER PROPERTY FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR THE EXPO CENTER PARK AND RIDE AT GOODNIGHT RANCH.
WE ARE IN CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH THE DEVELOPER FOR THE PARK AND RIDE AT THAT LOCATION IN ANTICIPATION OF THE SITE PLANNING PROCESS NEXT YEAR.
WHILE THEY SOUND PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD, THESE FACILITIES BENEFIT OUR CUSTOMERS AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY WITH AMENITIES SUCH AS BASES FOR WHEELCHAIR CHARGING WHILE CUSTOMERS WAIT FOR THEIR BUS ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE PUBLIC AND NEW TRAFFIC SIGNALS TO ENHANCE THE SAFETY OF ALL ROADWAY USERS.
IN ADDITION TO BEING A REQUIREMENT OF THE JPA AND THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS, CENTERING EQUITY IN OUR CONSTRUCTION OF THESE PROJECTS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
THE CONSTRUCTION PRO CONTRACTS FOR THE METRO RAPID AND METRO RAIL PROJECTS HAVE BEEN PROCURED IN ACCORDANCE WITH CAP METRO'S DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE OR DBE PROGRAM, AND INCLUDE THE WORKER PROTECTION STIPULATED IN THE JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT SUCH AS LIVING WAGE AND WORKER'S COMP TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE.
ADDITIONALLY, CAP METRO HAS HIRED A FIRM TO CONDUCT ONSITE MONITORING, ENSURING THAT THESE PROTECTIONS ARE IN PLACE.
THEY WILL COMPLETE THOSE MONITORING IN ADDITION TO WHAT CAP METRO IS REQUIRED TO FOLLOW AS A RECIPIENT OF CERTAIN FEDERAL FUNDS.
I WANT TO BRIEFLY TOUCH ON ANOTHER CRITICAL PROJECT THAT CAP METRO EMBARKED UPON IN 2022 THAT'S UPDATES TO OUR FAIR PROGRAMS TO INCREASE TRANSIT ACCESS AND FAIR EQUITY.
THE CAP METRO BOARD APPROVED THESE CHANGES TO THE FAIR STRUCTURE AND POLICY IN 2022, AND WE'RE CURRENTLY PILOTING THE TECHNOLOGY INTERNALLY IN PREPARATION FOR A ROLLOUT TO OUR CUSTOMERS IN 2023.
THESE CHANGES ENHANCE EQUITY BY ENSURING EVERYONE HAS ACCESS TO OUR PAST DISCOUNTS.
MM-HMM
WE'VE ALSO ADDED AN ADDITIONAL REDUCED FAIR CATEGORY FOR THE MOST FINANCIALLY VULNERABLE IN OUR COMMUNITY SERVICES AS PART OF PROJECT CONNECT WILL USE THE CAT METRO FAIR STRUCTURE ONCE OPERATIONAL.
SO WE ARE EXCITED TO CONTINUE TO BUILD UPON THIS FORMULA FOR FAIR TRANSIT FARES AT CAP METRO.
WE CONTINUE TO BE DEDICATED TO PROVIDING TRANSIT SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY AND EXPANDING THE, THE EXPANSION OF OUR NETWORK WITH THE GOAL OF DELIVERING THESE NEW SERVICES AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY.
I APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT AND YOUR TIME TODAY.
UM, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO CHARMILLA TO NOW DISCUSS OUR ET O PROGRAM.
UM, I'M CHARMELLA CHARMILLA MUJI, I'M EVP PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AT CAP METRO.
AND, UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE TO THE, YES.
I'M VERY EXCITED TODAY, UH, TO JUST GIVE YOU ALL AN UPDATE ON OUR EQUITABLE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
UM, WANTED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL TOD THAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH AND WHAT BRINGS E TO THE TOD? UM, THIS EFFORT THAT WE ARE HEARING A LOT ABOUT NOW, IT WAS INITIATED IN 2020 WITH A FEDERAL GRANT, UM, IT'S FTA TOD PLANNING, UH, GRANT THAT WE RECEIVED
[00:25:01]
FOR 900,000 AT THAT POINT.THAT WAS THE HIGHEST AWARD IN THAT YEAR, UH, FOLLOWED BY, UH, AN ADDITIONAL GRANT IN 2021 TO SUPPORT THAT 1.65 MILLION OF FTA TD PLANNING GRANT SUPPORT CAME, UH, TO, TO THIS, TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.
SO I WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AS I TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR PARTNERSHIP, OUR INCREDIBLE PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY OF AUSTIN THAT GOT US TO THIS POINT.
UM, SO WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT AND WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT ET A OR EQUITY IN CONTEXT OF PROJECT CONNECT? IT IS BECAUSE AS ALL OF YOU KNOW, THE LAND USE, LAND USE AND HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT GO HAND IN HAND.
THE VIABILITY AND VISIBILITY OF HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT CANNOT BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE LAND USE FRAMEWORK.
SO WE THOUGHT AS PROJECT CONNECT WAS, UM, GAINING, UM, GROUND AND GETTING UP TO SPEED AFTER PROP, WE THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE PHENOMENAL TO BE ABLE TO HELP THE CITY GIVE A HELPING HAND AND LEARN AND GET EDUCATED ALONG THE WAY HOW BEST TO BRING EQUITY INTO TRADITIONAL TOD.
SO, SO WHAT IS THAT? WHAT BRINGS E INTO TOD? SO IT'S ABOUT CREATING NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESIDENTS OF ALL INCOME LEVELS AND ACTUALLY GIVE POLICIES SOME TEETH TO IT MITIGATE DISPLACEMENT AND UNINTENDED ADVERSE OUTCOME OF NEW DEVELOPMENT.
MANY OF THE OTHER CITIES IN THE COUNTRY HAVE, UH, DONE THIS AND AFTER, AFTER THE FACT, AFTER THE SYSTEM WAS BUILT, AND HERE WE HAVE A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO CREATE THAT FRAMEWORK WITH OUR LAND USE AUTHORITY PARTNERS, SO WE HAVE A CONSISTENT PLAN AND POLICY ACROSS THE BOARD, AND THEN ENCOURAGE MARKET SUPPORTED DEVELOPMENT TO HAPPEN ALONG WITH IT.
UM, SO I, THE REASON IT'S IMPORTANT IS THAT FTA CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANTS CRITERIA, LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ARE 16.5% EACH, WHICH ALLOWS 33% OF THE OVERALL FTA NEW STARTS RATING CRITERIA TO BE DEVOTED TO THIS.
SO IT, AS IMPORTANT AS IT IS TO, TO DO GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY, AS MAYOR MENTIONED, THE POTENTIAL AND PROMISES WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM OF PROJECT DOESN'T LEAVE BEHIND THE ONES THAT NEED IT MOST.
I, I WILL PASS IT ON TO ROSIE, BUT BEFORE I GO, I JUST, UH, WANTED TO MENTION THAT, UH, WE HAD THIS TWO GRANTS THAT WERE DEDICATED TO THIS.
THEY COVERED, UH, EXISTING CONDITIONS DASHBOARD, WHICH WAS, UH, INCREASED TRANSPARENCY TO ALL, UM, ALONG WITH A FINISHED STUDY THAT INCLUDED 98 STATIONS ALONG LIGHT TRAIL COMMUTER RAIL AND METRO RAPID ROUTES.
SO WHAT WAS OUR OBJECTIVE? OUR OBJECTIVE WAS TO GIVE CITI A BASELINE THAT ROSIE IS GONNA GO IN DEPTH ABOUT THE THOUGHT POLICY PLAN IN THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT CAT METRO CITY OF AUSTIN, IN COLLABORATION WITH ATP COME UP WITH A PLAN THAT REALLY SUPPORT AND POSITION PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM OF PROJECT IN FTA FEDERAL COMPETITIVENESS IN THAT, IN THAT PROCESS AS WELL.
AND FTA RECOGNIZED THAT CAP METRO AND CITY OF AUSTIN WAS ABLE TO PROVE THAT OUR FOCUS ON EQUITY AND PRIORITIZING UNDERREPRESENTED VOICES AND WE WERE REWARDED.
AND THIS IS WHAT I OFFER GOOD NEWS.
I'M REALLY EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED THIS YEAR, FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW, ANOTHER $900,000 TO SUPPORT OUR EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED WORK.
AND THIS TIME WITH FOCUS ON IMPLEMENTATION.
SO WE ARE BEING NOTICED, IT'S BEING ADDRESSED, UH, AND REFERRED TO AS ONE OF THE TEMPLATES FOR ET O COUNTRYWIDE.
AND I'M REALLY HAPPY TO, UM, PASS IT ON TO ROSIE TO TALK ABOUT HOW SHE'S GONNA USE IT.
AND THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLE PARTNERSHIP AND THE TEMPLATE OF THIS MULTI-AGENCY ALIGNMENT, AS I WOULD CALL IT.
I THINK IT'D BE A GREAT TEMPLATE FOR PROJECT CONNECT DELIVERY AS WELL.
BEFORE WE MOVE ON, CHURCH PAVILION WANTS TO SAY A WORD.
JUST, I, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, TO SAY A COUPLE OF THINGS BECAUSE I THINK STAFF IS BEING, UH, MODEST AS IT RELATES TO INVESTMENTS, UH, IN THE EASTERN CRESCENT.
AS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, I, I JOINED, UH, CAP METRO'S BOARD IN 2018, AND THE FIRST VOTE THAT WE HAD WAS FOR CAP REMAP.
AND I ACTUALLY VOTED AGAINST THAT BECAUSE IT TOOK 12 ROUTES OUTTA PRECINCT ONE.
AND, AND I THOUGHT THAT, UH, THESE ROUTES WERE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TO OUR COMMUNITY, UH, AND PUT VOICE TO THAT.
BUT, UH, THROUGH OUR BOARD CHAIR AT THE TIME AND THE REST OF THE COLLEAGUES ON THE BOARD AND THE HARD WORK OF STAFF, UH, SINCE 2018, UH, CAP METRO HAS INVESTED MORE THAN 26 MILLION IN THE EASTERN CRESCENT, UH, TO TRY TO RESTORE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE LOST, BUT ALSO TO PREPARE
[00:30:01]
US TO GO FORWARD IN AN EQUITABLE FASHION.UH, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT, UM, PARK AND RIDE COMING INTO THE EXPO CENTER, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE USE OF PICKUP ROUTES, UH, GOING ALL THE WAY UP DESSA OUT TO, UH, WELLS BRANCH, UH, THE STAFF HAS DONE AN EXCEPTIONAL JOB OF DOING WHAT THE COMMUNITY NEEDED WHILE WE ARE PREPARING TO DO ADDITIONAL THINGS AS WE GO FORWARD.
AND I, I DID NOT WANT THIS OPPORTUNITY WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EQUITABLE TRANSIT OPPORTUNITIES, UH, TO GO BY WITHOUT RECOGNIZING, UH, THE SIGNIFICANT COMMITMENT OF STAFF AND THE ORGANIZATION TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT, UH, THE EASTERN CRESCENT IS NOT LEFT BEHIND.
THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THAT, AND CONGRATULATIONS, CHARMILLA AND THE TEAM FOR THIS REMARKABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
HI, ROSIE TRULA, UH, THE DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND, AND THANK YOU CHARMELLA FOR, FOR TEEING US UP TO TALK ABOUT, UM, THE CITY'S WORK ON THE E T OD POLICY PLAN.
UH, AND YOU'LL HEAR KIND OF ECHOING THROUGHOUT ALL OF OUR REMARKS, UM, THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PARTNERSHIP THAT WE FEEL EXISTS BETWEEN THESE AGENCIES.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP AS WELL.
UH, PROJECT CONNECT, AS WE KNOW, IS A ONCE IN A GENERATION INVESTMENT IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THE PURPOSE, UM, AND THE PURPOSE OF THE ETO OD POLICY PLAN IS TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK TO ENSURE THAT DEVELOPMENT AROUND THE PROJECT CONNECT SYSTEM SUPPORTS THIS INVESTMENT WHILE ADDRESSING HISTORIC INEQUITIES IN OUR COMMUNITY WITH BETTER TRANSPORTATION ACCESS, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AND INCREASED ACCESS TO ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES TO ENABLE ALL MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY TO THRIVE.
THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL HAS EMBRACED THE GOAL OF EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT, AND IN 2021, THEY APPROVED A RESOLUTION DIRECTING STAFF TO PARTNER WITH CAT METRO ON THE EQUITABLE TRANSPORTATION ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT STUDY.
AND TO BRING BACK A SYSTEM-WIDE E T O D POLICY PLAN, UH, HOUSING AND PLANNING STAFF HAVE PARTNERED WITH A COMMUNITY IN CAP METRO TO DEVELOP THE ETOD POLICY PLAN THAT BUILDS ON A FOUNDATION PROVIDED BY THE STUDY.
THE PLAN DEFINES SIX MAJOR GOALS BY WHICH WE WILL GAUGE SUCCESS, UH, INCLUDES INFORMATION ABOUT EXISTING CONDITIONS AND CATEGORIZES FUTURE PROJECT CONNECT CESSATIONS INTO A TYPOLOGY.
THE PLAN INCLUDES A TOOLKIT OF POLICIES THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO SUPPORT EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
AND SOME OF THESE POLICIES IN THE TOOLKIT ARE ALREADY BEING APPLIED, INCLUDING THE ACTIVITIES FUNDED WITH THE 300 MILLION ANTI DISPLACEMENT FUNDING, WHILE OTHERS WILL REQUIRE FUTURE WORK ON THE PART OF THE CITY CAP METRO AND OUR PARTNERS.
THE PLAN ALSO PRIORITIZES STATIONS FOR FUTURE PLANNING SERVICES AND INCLUDES A WORK PLAN FOR STATION AREA SPECIFIC PLANNING AND REGULATORY CHANGES IN THE SHORT AND LONG TERM.
NEXT THURSDAY, UH, ON DECEMBER 8TH, THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL WILL CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE E T OD POLICY PLAN AND INITIATING SPECIFIC IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES IF APPROVED BY COUNCIL.
NEXT STEPS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS WOULD INCLUDE, UH, AMENDING, IMAGINE AUSTIN AMENDING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE TO CREATE AN E T O D PLANNING PROGRAM, CREATING AND APPLYING A VOLUNTARY E T O D OVERLAY, DEVELOPING STATION AREA VISION PLANS FOR NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER AND SOUTH CONGRESS TRANSIT CENTER, DEVELOPING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POSSIBLE FUTURE MODIFICATIONS TO THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR PLAN, AND DEVELOPING AN EQUITY SCORECARD TO EVALUATE PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT AT STATION AREAS.
WHILE WE ARE MAKING THESE AMENDMENTS AND PLANS TO ENSURE THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN CAN DELIVER SOMETHING DIFFERENT, KNOWING THAT HISTORICALLY COMMUNITIES OF COLOR HAVE OFTEN BEEN NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY TRANSIT INVESTMENTS, IN ADDITION TO THE ETOD PLANNING PROCESS, THE PROJECT CONNECT ANTIS DISPLACEMENT FUNDS ARE ANOTHER TOOL THAT WE ARE USING TO PROVIDE DIFFERENT OUTCOMES TO VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS AND THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS.
WE WERE TASKED WITH CREATING AN EQUITY TOOL TO GUIDE THE ANTI DISPLACEMENT INVESTMENTS.
CITY STAFF RECRUITED INDIVIDUALS WHO HAD AT LEAST ONE CHARACTERISTIC THAT GENERALLY MAKES A HOUSEHOLD VULNERABLE TO DISPLACEMENT.
THROUGH THIS DEEP COMMIT, THIS DEEP ENGAGEMENT PROCESS, WE CO-CREATED THE EQUITY TOOL WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
THE RESULTING TOOL CONTINUES TO INFORM HOW WE ARE PROCEEDING WITH OUR ANTI-DISPLACEMENT INVESTMENTS.
UM, THE, THE REPORT IS CALLED THE NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US REPORT, UH, AND THERE IS, UH, A LINK ON THE SLIDE, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THAT, SHOULD YOU GUYS ASK FOR IT.
WE ALSO CREATED A SERIES OF ANTI-DISPLACEMENT MAPS.
THE DATA IN THESE MAPS HELPS STAFF TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE COMPOSITION OF NEIGHBORHOODS.
FOR INSTANCE, WE CAN IDENTIFY THE NUMBER OF RENTERS AND HOMEOWNERS WITHIN A GIVEN NEIGHBORHOOD.
THE DATA ALSO ALLOWS US TO SEE AT THE CENSUS TRACK LEVEL, A HOUSEHOLD'S RISK FACTOR THAT MIGHT MAKE THEM MORE VULNERABLE TO DISPLACEMENT.
THE INFORMATION HELPS THE CITY TO BE PROACTIVE WITH OUR STRATEGIES TO HELP STABILIZE COMMUNITIES.
[00:35:01]
WE ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO, TO CHECK OUT THIS MAP, UH, THIS MAP SERIES THAT WE HAVE.IT'S AVAILABLE AT, UM, THE, THE LINK THAT'S ON THE SCREEN.
I WON'T READ IT OUT, UH, BUT I DO ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH, UH, WITH THE MAPS.
CAN I GET THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE? WITH THE INITIAL 65 MILLION ALLOCATION, WE FOCUSED OUR EFFORTS ON A BALANCED MIXTURE OF BOTH SHORT AND LONG-TERM STRATEGIES TO REDUCE DISPLACEMENT PRESSURES.
SHORT-TERM SOLUTIONS INCLUDED 20 MILLION IN FUNDING TO COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO ADDRESS A VARIETY OF HOUSING NEEDS FOR RENTERS AND HOMEOWNERS.
WITH THE BALANCE OF THE FUNDING, WE FOCUSED ON LAND ACQUISITION AND PRODUCING ADDITIONAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS.
YOU CAN SEE THE, THE THREE DIFFERENT FUNDING AREAS, UH, HIGHLIGHTED ON THE SLIDE.
23 MILLION FOR LAND ACQUISITION, 20 MILLION FOR OUR COMMUNITY INITIATED SOLUTIONS, AND 21 MILLION IN REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT.
UM, AS FAR AS ACHIEVEMENTS, WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THE FACT THAT THE AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION RECENTLY APPROVED ALLOCATION OF 20 MILLION FOR COMMUNITY INITIATED SOLUTIONS TO 14 DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS.
UH, IN OUR REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT REALM, WE HAVE FIVE DEVELOPMENTS, UM, THAT ARE RESULTING IN 380 UNITS, BELOW 50% MEDIAN FAMILY, UH, INCOME, AND 23 OWNERSHIP UNITS BELOW 80% MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME.
AND FOR OUR LAND ACQUISITION PROGRAM, WE HAVE A HUNDRED, UH, SO FAR, 162 UNITS, UH, PRESERVED OF NATURALLY OCCURRING AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
SO WE'RE VERY HAPPY TO SHARE THOSE ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH YOU.
UH, MAY I HAVE THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE? WE ARE CONTINUING TO COLLABORATE WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS AS WE ENTER NEXT YEAR.
HOUSING AND PLANNING STAFF IS WORKING WITH THE CAC TO FINALIZE ANTI DISPLACEMENT BUDGET PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
WE WILL ALSO BE PRIORITIZING WORK THAT PROVIDES TRANSPARENCY AROUND OUR DELIVERABLES, INCLUDING A PUBLIC FACING DASHBOARD TO SHOW WHERE THE ANTIS DISPLACEMENT INVESTMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE.
AND AS WAS MENTIONED BEFORE, WE ARE, WE WILL BE WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS AT ATP AND CAP METRO TO ESTABLISH ANTI DISPLACEMENT AND EQUITY KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.
AND I WILL NOW TURN IT OVER TO ANIQUE.
UH, AND THANK YOU FOR THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THE 300 MILLION ANTIS DISPLACEMENT.
UM, IT'S QUITE IMPRESSIVE AND A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW, BUT I'M GOING TO TRY, UM, AN BODAY.
I'M THE MOBILITY OFFICER, UM, FOR THE PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND IN ADDITION TO THE CITY'S ROLE IN E T O D AND DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION, UM, THE CITY HAS PUT TOGETHER A PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE, UM, IN THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE TO SPECIFICALLY SUPPORT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP AND CAPITAL METRO IN THE DESIGN, PERMITTING AND DELIVERY OF THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM OF PROJECTS, WHICH IS NO SMALL TASK.
TWO WEEKS AGO, WE TOOK AN IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD IN IMPROVING THE CITY'S PERMITTING PROCESSES FOR THE PROGRAM AS A WHOLE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY AND ORDINANCE THAT PROVIDES A FOUNDATION AND A ONE STOP SHOP FOR PROJECT CONNECT SPECIFIC REGULATIONS THAT WILL BENEFIT THE PROGRAM AS IT PROCEEDS.
WE, UM, AS, AS THE PROGRAM PROCEEDS AND WE KNOW MORE ABOUT HOW WE CAN BE EFFICIENT IN, IN KEEPING TRUE TO CITY VALUES AND, AND ALSO, UM, IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT, WE WILL BE ADDING ON TO THIS, TO THIS ORDINANCE.
BUT IT'S ONE PLACE, UM, WHERE THE PUBLIC CAN GO WITH TRANSPARENCY TO ONE ORDINANCE NUMBER TO FIND OUT ABOUT HOW AND WHAT IS CHANGING IN ORDER TO REALIZE, UM, PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, THE, THE ORDINANCE WAS A RESULT OF A RESOLUTION THAT WAS PASSED IN OCTOBER OF 2021 BY THE CITY COUNCIL WITH ACCOMPANYING, UM, SUPPORT RESOLUTIONS FROM THE CAPITAL METRO BOARD AND THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD, UM, ASKING US TO LOOK AT WHAT WE MIGHT KNOW INITIALLY AS OBSTACLES, UM, TO IMPLEMENTING THIS PROGRAM AND TO, AND TO BE TWO STEPS AHEAD.
UM, BECAUSE AS WE KNOW FROM LOOKING AT PROGRAMS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA THAT, UM, PERMITTING PROCESSES AND LAND USE REGULATIONS, UM, CAN OFTEN BE THINGS THAT, THAT PUT PROJECTS BEHIND SCHEDULE.
UM, ALONG, UH, ALONG WITH THE, UM, ALONG WITH THE ORDINANCE, I WANT TO GIVE PRAISE TO, UH, ALMOST ALL THE DEPARTMENTS, ABOUT 25 OF OUR 40 SOME DEPARTMENTS WHO HAD A HAND IN THIS ORDINANCE.
SO OUR OFFICE, THE PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE, UM, IS TRYING VERY, VERY HARD TO INCORPORATE PROJECT CONNECT INTO THE DNA OF THE ORGANIZATION BECAUSE IT'S GONNA BE HERE FOR A WHILE AND WE'RE GONNA NEED TO THINK DIFFERENTLY TO DELIVER A PROJECT OF THIS SCALE.
SO I WANNA SAY THANK YOU, UM, PUBLICLY TO ALL THE DEPARTMENTS, UM, WHO ALSO HELPED WITH THIS, UM, WITH THIS ORDINANCE.
SO, UM, IN ADDITION TO, UM, POLICY SUPPORT, THE PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE HAS BEEN VERY ACTIVE AS MS.
[00:40:01]
KING POINTED OUT.UM, PROACTIVELY HELPING CURRENTLY RIGHT NOW WITH METRO RAPID DESIGN AND PERMITTING, AS WELL AS THE RED LINE, UM, METRO RAIL DOUBLE TRACKING.
UM, AND ALSO AS WE WORK THROUGH, UM, THE WORK WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW WITH, UM, WITH THE LIGHT RAIL DURING THE PAUSE.
SO AGAIN, THIS YEAR, UM, WE ARE, WE HAVE COORDINATED, AGAIN, WITH, WITH ALL THE KEY DEPARTMENTS TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH METRO RAPID DOUBLE TRACKING, UM, AND THE LIGHT RAIL IN AN EFFICIENT WAY.
UM, AND WE'VE ALSO BEEN FOCUSING, UM, A, A BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT THIS PAST YEAR HAS BEEN WITH OUR UTILITIES, AUSTIN ENERGY, AUSTIN WATER AND WATERSHED IN, IN PUTTING TOGETHER WHAT IS CALLED A UTILITIES RULES OF PRACTICE, WHICH IS A, A GUIDEBOOK ON HOW THE DEPARTMENTS AND THE LEADERSHIP IN THE DEPARTMENTS WILL APPROACH COORDINATING UTILITY RELOCATIONS AND ANY CHANGES TO OUR CRITERIA THAT MAY HAP THAT MAY NEED TO HAPPEN.
IT'S A FIRST STEP, UM, AND A VERY IMPORTANT FIRST STEP, AND IT IS COMPLETE.
AND IT WAS, IT WAS A LOT OF ROLLING UP OUR SLEEVES AND WORKING THROUGH A LOT OF NITTY GRITTY.
IT IS BEING, UM, ADMINISTRATIVELY REVIEWED AND WILL BE SIGNED OFF IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.
AND THEN WE WILL CONTINUE THE WORK TO, UH, MAKE SOME CHANGES THAT WERE IDENTIFIED THAT THAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN THROUGH SEPARATE PROCESSES.
UM, LASTLY, I WANT TO, UM, BEFORE I HAND THE PRESENTATION BACK OVER TO COURTNEY TO TALK ABOUT CENTERING THE COMMUNITY, I WANNA GIVE A PLUG, UM, TO A BBC, UH, STORY ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT THAT IS TOLD THROUGH THE EYES OF THE COMMUNITY AND FEATURES OUR ATP BOARD CHAIR, VERONICA CASTRO DERE.
AND I WANNA THANK THE MAYOR FOR HIS INVOLVEMENT WITH C 40 CITIES, WHICH IS A, A MEMBERSHIP OF GLOBAL MAYORS WHO, UM, WANT TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND, UH, THEY DECIDED TO DO A PROJECT TO HIGHLIGHT CITIES WHO HAVE, UM, SIGNIFICANT LOCAL INITIATIVES THAT TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND GUESS WHAT AUSTIN AND PROJECT CONNECT WAS PICKED.
AND, UM, THE, THE INTERACTIVE STORY IS TOLD THROUGH THE EYES OF MANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
IT'S AT BBC.COM STORY WORKS AND I ENCOURAGE YOU ALL, UM, TO LOOK AT IT.
AND I THANK YOU BOTH, MAYOR AND CHAIR BAR KESSLER DE FOR YOUR, UM, EFFORT ON THAT.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL PASS IT OVER TO COURTNEY TO TALK MORE ABOUT CENTERING COMMUNITY VOICES AND PROJECT CONNECT.
I THINK, SO I GET THE FUN PART OF TALKING ABOUT ALL OF THE ENGAGEMENT THAT WE HAVE DONE ACROSS ALL THREE BODIES THIS PAST YEAR.
UM, I HOPE WHAT YOU'RE TAKING AWAY FROM THIS CONVERSATION IS HOW MUCH WORK WE HAVE DONE.
IT HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE, AND THAT IS NO LESS IN OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, EFFORTS AS WELL.
AND SO, UH, SLIDE 25 AND 26 ARE IMAGES OF A LOT OF THE ENGAGEMENT WE'VE DONE ACROSS OUR, UM, OUR PARTNERSHIP.
IT'S BEEN REALLY MOVING US INTO A NEW PHASE OF CENTERING, CENTERING COMMUNITY VALUES.
MEANING THAT WE ARE SHIFTING THE WAY THAT WE DO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE GOING TO WHERE COMMUNITY IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE IDENTIFYING, UM, LOCATIONS, COMMUNITIES, AREAS WHERE WE MAYBE HAVE NOT BEEN AS ACTIVE OR EFFECTIVE IN ENGAGING BEFORE.
AND LEARNING FROM THAT PROCESS TO, TO MOVE US AND DEVELOP NEW, NEW METHODS OF ENGAGEMENT.
UH, WE KNOW THAT BY DOING THIS, BY HAVING ONGOING AND CONSISTENT OUTREACH, OUR GOAL IS TO BUILD TRUST, TO MAINTAIN AND GAIN NEW RELATIONSHIPS WHERE THEY DID NOT EXIST BEFORE.
UH, THAT WILL ENCOURAGE MORE PEOPLE TO PROVIDE US FEEDBACK IN OUR SERVICES, IN HOW WE'RE DOING OUR WORK, BECAUSE THE PURPOSE IS TO DO IT FOR THE COMMUNITY.
SO WITH THAT, WE KNOW THAT THERE'S STILL WORK TO BE DONE IN THIS PROCESS, ABSOLUTELY, HANDS DOWN, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK AND GROW IN THAT SPACE TO KNOW HOW TO MOVE INTO MORE COMMUNITY LED PROCESSES AROUND ENGAGEMENT.
UM, IT'LL, IT'S AN ONGOING PROCESS.
WE'RE CONTINUING TO LEARN AND WELCOME ANY FEEDBACK FROM THAT AS WELL.
AND SO WITH THAT, I BELIEVE THAT CONCLUDES OUR DISCUSSION AT THIS POINT, IF THERE ARE QUESTIONS.
THIS IS A REALLY HEAVY LIFT AND I, IT DEMONSTRATES THE HARD WORK ALSO BECAUSE IT'S QUIET WORK A LOT OF TIMES BEHIND THE SCENES.
SO WHEN YOU DON'T SEE MACHINES TURNING LIKE MOLLY, YOU HAVE HAVE ALL THE EYE CANDY, RIGHT, WITH THE VIDEOS OF ALL THE CONSTRUCTION TURNING, BUT THERE'S SO MUCH WORK BEHIND THE SCENES THAT Y'ALL HAVE DONE.
SO REALLY, I THINK JUST PASSING THIS RESOLUTION AND THANKING COUNCIL FOR PASSING THE, THE RESOLUTION RECENTLY ABOUT PERMITTING, IT'S A MAJOR WIN.
SO THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THAT.
UM, GREG, DO YOU WANNA CONTINUE? AND, AND ACTUALLY THIS IS A REALLY GOOD MOMENT FOR, FOR THE NEXT 25
[00:45:01]
MINUTES CUZ WE'RE A LITTLE BIT BEHIND SCHEDULE.ANY QUESTIONS THAT THIS DIAS HAS? MEMBER KITCHEN? YEAH, I JUST WANNA SAY, WELL, FIRST OFF, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU.
UM, I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE, THE TIME TO, TO HIGHLIGHT THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE.
IT'S JUST A REMINDER TO ALL OF US THAT PROJECT CONNECT IS A, UM, IT, IT'S A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM AND IT COVERS JUST A WHOLE RANGE OF PIECES.
UM, AND, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, YOU ALL HAVE GIVEN US, UH, A GOOD OVERVIEW OF ALL THOSE PIECES AND THE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE MADE.
AND IT ALSO EMPHASIZES HOW INTEGRAL TO ALL THIS THE, UM, THE EQUITY ASPECT IS, UM, THAT IT'S NOT A, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE DO IN ADDITION, IT IS, IT IS WHAT WE DO WITH PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT ONE OTHER PIECE AND JUST ASK, UM, OR MAYBE BRAG ON IT A LITTLE BIT.
AND THAT'S THE, UM, THE METRO BIKE PART, BECAUSE I JUST WANNA REMIND FOLKS THAT PROJECT CONNECT ALSO INCLUDES METRO BIKE, WHICH IS THAT FIRST LAST MILE THING.
AND THEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ELECTRIC BIKES.
UM, AND SO THAT'S ANOTHER PIECE, YOU KNOW, WE TALK A LOT ABOUT THE, THE PARK AND RIDE'S REALLY IMPORTANT IN THE BR THE, THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT LINES AND ALL OF THAT.
BUT JUST WANNA REMIND FOLKS THAT WE'VE ALSO MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS AROUND METRO BIKE.
SO, AND I DON'T KNOW IF OUR STAFF WANTS TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT.
SO I, I PERSONALLY SEE METRO BIKE AS A INCREDIBLY POWERFUL FIRST AND LAST MILE, AS YOU MENTIONED, AND IN, AND NOT JUST A FIRST AND LAST MILE.
IT'S, IT'S ORGANIC TO AUSTIN'S CULTURE.
SO I THINK IT'S ALSO SUPPORTING THE ACTIVE TRANS TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENT.
I SEE THAT AS A SUPPORTIVE, UH, TRANSPORTATION, UH, OPTION FOR PROJECT, PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM OF PROJECTS WITHOUT A DOUBT.
SO HOW WELL WE INTEGRATE THAT WITH FUTURE LIGHT TRAIL AND STATIONS AND OUR METRO RAPID LINES, THAT IS WHERE OUR SORT OF DESIGN DETAILS WOULD COME INTO PLAY.
BUT WE ARE VERY PROUD OF THAT.
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
UM, WHO WOULD LIKE, ANY QUESTIONS? ANYBODY ELSE HAS COMMENTS, QUESTIONS? MEMBER MEDICINE? THANK YOU.
I APPRECIATE BEING RECOGNIZED.
I JUST WANTED TO, UM, SORT OF DOUBLE DOWN ON, I, I WAS LISTENING AS YOU, MY EARS ALWAYS PERK UP WHEN I HEAR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, CUZ MORE OFTEN THAN NOT I'M DISAPPOINTED AT THE EFFORT.
AND I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I HAVE ACTIVELY BEEN WATCHING TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT THE STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN TO CONSIDER COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN'S POINT AN IMPERATIVE COMPONENT.
IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, AN ADDITIONAL VARIABLE.
IT IS A PART OF THE EQUATION FROM THE START.
AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THE LEVEL OF INTENTION THAT'S GONE FORWARD.
UM, I, I WILL NEVER SAY THAT WE CAN'T GO A LITTLE BIT FURTHER WHEN WE'RE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION HOW WE EXECUTE REALLY COMPREHENSIVE, UM, CULTURALLY COMPETENT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
BUT I THINK GIVEN THE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM SYSTEMS, YOU KNOW, HOUSING, LAND USE, URBAN PLANNING, TRANSIT, INFO INFRASTRUCTURE, THESE ARE TRADITIONALLY CONVERSATIONS THAT INCLUDE LAY PEOPLE.
BUT HERE WE ARE MAKING DECISIONS, HUNDREDS OF YEARS WORTH OF TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE DECISIONS THAT AFFECT EVERYBODY, BUT SOMEHOW WE INHERENTLY LEAVE FOLKS OUT OF THE DIALOGUE.
I THINK A PART OF THE PROBLEM THERE THAT MAKES IT A LITTLE BIT DIFFICULT FOR US TO TRANSCEND THE INHERENT DIFFICULTY IS THAT FOLKS WHO SPEAK TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE ARE SPEAKING JAPANESE AND EVERYBODY ELSE IS SPEAKING PORTUGUESE.
WE DON'T EVEN SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE.
HALF OF US DON'T KNOW WHAT Y'ALL ARE TALKING ABOUT.
AND I THINK THAT SORT OF IMBALANCE ALWAYS LEAVES ROOM FOR LEAVING A BAD TASTE IN PEOPLE'S MOUTHS.
UM, THE, THE VERY NATURE OF ADULT EDUCATION IS YOU FIRST HAVE TO GET ADULTS WHO ARE LEARNING TO TRUST YOU, TO TEACH THEM AND NOT TO, UM, PATRONIZE THEM WHEN YOU DO IT.
AND SO I I RECOGNIZE, FULLY RECOGNIZE THE LEVEL OF COMPLICATION THAT, UM, THIS SORT OF REAL COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT REQUIRES.
UM, BUT THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TYPICALLY ARE DIFFICULT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT AS A PERSON WHO HAS DECIDED TO RESERVE THE RIGHT TO BE PERPETUALLY CRITICAL, I AM IMPRESSED.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PUTTING FORTH THE NECESSARY LEVEL OF INTENTION AND THOUGHT.
I REALLY APPRECIATE, UM, THE BREADTH AND DEPTH OF THE
[00:50:01]
WORK AND, AND THE PRESENTATION AND CLEARLY ON THESE PIECES, WHICH WERE ALWAYS INTENDED TO BE SOME OF THE EARLY OUT PIECES FOR THE PROJECT WE WERE MAKING, REALLY US AND AND APPRECIATE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO SORT OF HIGHLIGHT THAT AND HOW THAT'S HAPPENING.UM, I DID WANNA GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY THOUGH, TO IDENTIFY ANY CHALLENGES IN THESE AREAS, UM, THAT WE NEED TO BE MINDFUL OF AS THE BODIES THAT ARE, AS THE BODIES THAT ARE GOVERNING EACH OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ULTIMATELY MAKE IT EASIER OR HARDER FOR YOU TO COOPERATE AMONGST YOURSELVES,
AND I ASK THAT, ASSUMING THAT WE'RE GONNA BE HEARING A LOT ABOUT, UM, SOME OF, SOME OF THE ASPECTS FOR THE LIGHT RAIL THAT ARE DECISION POINTS, IF THERE ARE, UM, SIMILAR QUESTIONS FOR THESE EARLIER OUT PORTIONS THAT WE SHOULD HEAR ABOUT.
I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM IF THERE'S NOT, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE.
UM, YEAH, THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION, MAYOR PROTE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE CHALLENGES WITH OUR SUCCESSES AND, YOU KNOW, FROM THE, FROM THE CITY, UH, PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE SIDE OF THINGS, YOU KNOW, IT'S, WE'RE BALANCING ALL, UM, CITY VALUES AND HAVING TO LOOK AT A LOT OF TRADE OFFS, WHICH WILL BE TRANSLATED TO WHAT WE TALK ABOUT IN THE SPRING WITH, WITH YOU ALL.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, JUST RECOGNIZING THAT, THAT OUR, THAT, THAT OUR, THOSE ARE CHALLENGES THAT WE WORK WITH EVERYONE ACROSS THIS TABLE EVERY DAY.
AND, UM, AND WE, AND WE, WE, WE BE, WE'RE DIPLOMATIC ABOUT IT AND WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO GET TO THE RIGHT, TO THE RIGHT SOLUTION.
UM, BUT I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING SPECIFIC, UM, TO POINT OUT.
BUT JUST RECOGNIZING, UM, THAT THERE WILL BE HARD DECISIONS AS WE MOVE THE, THE PROGRAM FORWARD.
AND THE ONLY THING I'LL ADD IS THAT WHAT ANIKA SAID IS, IS A TESTAMENT TO HOW WELL WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER AT THE STAFF AS A TEAM TO MAKE SURE THAT AS WE SEE CHALLENGES, WE ARE BEING PROACTIVE AND BEING ABLE TO ENGAGE AND, AND ANSWER THOSE CHALLENGES AS THEY COME.
ANYBODY ELSE HAS ANY OTHER COMMENTS? I'D LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WELCOME OUR BOARD MEMBER JUAN GARZA.
HE'S NEW TO THIS GROUP, AND I ALSO WANTED TO TAKE THIS MOMENT TO RECOGNIZE AND THANK THE PARTNERS MEMBER STRATTON, MEMBER COOPER, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS AND MAYOR PUTTEN AL FOR SELECTING OUR NEW BOARD MEMBER.
THAT IS A, THAT WAS A HEAVY LIFT, A BIG SHOES TO FILL WITH DR.
BURNETT'S ABSENCE, BUT WE ARE SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE YOU JOIN US AND WELCOME TO THE GROUPS, UH, MEMBER GARZA.
DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS TO ADDRESS THE GROUP? AND WE WANT TO, WE WANT THEM TO GET TO KNOW YOU TOO,
HERE, I THOUGHT I WOULD JUST KIND OF FAD INTO THE BACKGROUND, BUT YOU DIDN'T GIMME THAT CHANCE, DID YOU? UH, I'M DELIGHTED TO BE HERE.
THANK YOU FOR, UM, THE OPPORTUNITY.
I, I CONSIDERED IT AN HONOR, UH, TO BE HERE.
I WILL WORK AS HARD AS I CAN TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
UM, AND IN THAT VEIN, UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WORK.
I REALLY APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'VE DONE.
UH, I'M NEW, SO, UH, IT KIND OF BLOWS ME AWAY, UM, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THOSE FOLKS LIKE ME THAT AREN'T AS UP TO SPEED AS YOU ARE.
UH, I WOULD APPRECIATE A MACRO MAP WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU SHOW A PROJECT THAT SHOWS WHERE IN THE SERVICE AREA IT IS AND, AND THEN COME TO THE SPECIFIC PROJECT, I THINK IT GIVES A BETTER PICTURE OF, UH, OF HOW THE ENTIRE SERVICE AREA IS BEING IMPACTED.
WELCOME AGAIN, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND YOUR KINDNESS IN JOINING US IN THIS HEAVY LIFT TOGETHER.
UH, UH, I JUST WANNA SAY THAT Y'ALL DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB.
I, UH, I WENT TO, UM, TO MEET WITH THE ADMINISTRATORS THERE IN WASHINGTON DC WITH THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
AND ONE OF THE FIRST COMMENTS THAT CAME OUT OF THE ADMINISTER THAT HOW Y'ALL ADDRESSING THE DISPLACEMENT ISSUE ISSUES.
AND, UH, I GOT TO TELL HER THAT AS THE ONLY ELECTED OFFICIAL HERE, WE WERE ABLE TO CONVINCE OUR CITIZENS TO SUPPORT US AND TO VOTE FOR A THREE, $300 MILLION, YOU KNOW, RE UH, SOLUTION FOR, UH, DISPLACEMENT THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO ADDRESS.
SO, UH, WHEN I WENT WITH THE NATIONAL LEADER CITY HERE JUST TWO WEEKS AGO, I RAN INTO, UH, ALICIA, FELICIA JANE, AND SHE WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH WHAT, HOW WE ARE DOING HERE IN AUSTIN.
AND I JUST WANTED TO LET THE LET Y'ALL KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, SHE
[00:55:01]
KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE, HOW, WHAT Y'ALL ARE DOING, AND SHE REALLY WANTS TO THANK, THANK GOD FOR DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB.THANK YOU FOR THAT COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND, AND I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE NEFERTITI JACKMAN.
SHE'S OUR COMMUNITY DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION OFFICER AND SHE'S IN THE ROOM, SMILE AND WAVE NEFERTITI, UH, AND SHE'S DOING AN AMAZING JOB AS SHE'S LIFTING THIS, THIS BRAND NEW, HONESTLY, UM, RECORD BREAKING, FANTASTIC INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO HOW WE HANDLE DISPLACEMENT PRESSURES ASSOCIATED WITH REAL CONSTRUCTION.
SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO BE PART OF THIS THANK YOU MEMBER KITCHEN.
UM, AND YES, AND THANK YOU, UM, MEMBER ENTR, COUNCIL MEMBER ENTR FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
UM, I ALSO JUST WANTED TO MENTION, I KNOW IT'S BEEN A PARTICULAR, UH, CHALLENGE, UM, TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO, UM, HOW TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY INITIATED, UM, SOLUTIONS WITH THE, UM, WITH THE, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THE ANTIS DISPLACEMENT DOLLARS.
UM, BECAUSE THAT'S BEEN A REALLY NEW PROCESS.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S A PIECE OF WHAT WE'RE DOING, THE LAND ACQUISITION, THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT.
WE'RE MORE, UH, MORE FAMILIAR WITH HOW TO DO THAT, BUT HOW TO WORK WITH SPECIFIC, UM, COMMUNITIES ALONG THE LINES, THE COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED BY DATA AS THOSE AT RISK OF ANTIS DISPLACEMENT AND REALLY GETTING TO THE LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON IN THOSE AREAS, UM, AND FITTING SOLUTIONS, UM, TO THOSE AREAS.
CUZ EACH OF THOSE AREAS IS DIFFERENT, UM, IS CHALLENGING.
UM, AND FITTING THOSE SOLUTIONS TO THOSE AREAS IN A WAY THAT WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING THERE RIGHT NOW IS EVEN MORE CHALLENGING.
SO I APPRECIATE ALL THE PROGRESS THAT, UH, NEFERTITI AND HER TEAM, UM, AND YOU ROSIE AND YOUR TEAM HAVE MADE IN THAT REGARD.
UM, AND, UM, JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR THAT.
I KNOW THAT AS WE CONTINUE GOING DOWN THAT ROAD, THAT'S GONNA BE EVEN MORE AND MORE CRITICAL.
UM, 300 MILLION IS A LOT OF MONEY, BUT 300 MILLION IS ALSO NOT A LOT OF MONEY
YOU KNOW, I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS ALSO, UM, THAT, UM, THAT 300 MILLION IS A LOT OF MONEY, BUT NOT A LOT OF MONEY.
AND IT NEEDS TO BE FOCUSED ON SOLUTIONS THAT ARE GONNA WORK IN SPECIFIC AREAS AND THAT WORK FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE AND WHO KNOW WHAT THEY NEED.
SO I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS.
I, ON THAT NOTE, YOU KNOW, ON SLIDE 21, YOU DID SHOW THE THREE AREAS OF HOW THE DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION INVESTMENTS ARE BEING ALLOCATED.
AND ONE THING I LIKE TO REMIND THE PUBLIC IS THAT THOSE THREE CRITERIA OR THREE CATEGORIES WERE DEFINED BY THE CAC.
THEY SENT THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS THROUGH TO THE GROUP.
BUT THE PART I'M CURIOUS, AND, AND I KNOW THIS WAS A UNIQUE APPROACH WITH GIVING THE GRANT TO 20 MILLION TO 14 ORGANIZATIONS.
SO MY QUESTION IS, HOW DO YOU, WHEN DO YOU HEAR BACK FROM THEM ON WHAT THEY'RE RECOMMENDING? IS THERE A TIMELINE FOR THAT? UM, SURE.
I WOULD LOVE TO INVITE NEFERTITI, UH, UP TO THE TABLE TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT, UM, THE TIMELINES ASSOCIATED AND HOW, UM, HOW WE TOOK THE, THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CAC, UH, AND TURNED IT INTO THE COMMUNITY INITIATED SOLUTIONS RFP, THAT, THAT, OR I'LL CALL IT AN RFP, UM, THAT THAT CAME OUT AND HOW WE GOT TO THE POINT OF HAVING THE CONTRACTS AND WHERE WE'RE AT.
UM, SO THE COMMUNITY INITIATED SOLUTIONS, THEY WERE INFORMED BY THE RACIAL ANTIS DISPLACEMENT, RACIAL EQUITY, ANTIS DISPLACEMENT TOOLS.
SO THEY HELP WORKING WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS HELP TO PRIORITIZE WHERE THE INVESTMENTS WOULD BE GOING.
AND FROM THAT, UM, WHAT WE DID, WE TOOK THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THAT REPORT TO THE CAC.
THEN WE WORKED WITH THE CAC, UM, TO LOOK AT THE REPORT, THE FINAL REPORT AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND SO WE DECIDED TO PRIOR PRIORITIZE THE THREE BUCKETS BASED UPON WHAT WAS IN THAT EQUITY TOOL, UH, REPORT.
SO THAT'S HOW WE CAME UP INITIALLY, UH, WITH THE THREE BUCKETS, RECOGNIZING ALSO THAT COUNCIL HAD APPROVED THE 23 MILLION PREVIOUSLY FOR THE LAND ACQUISITION.
AND SO THOSE THREE PRIORITY AREAS ARE IN ALIGNMENT WITH WHAT COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAD IDENTIFIED.
[01:00:01]
UM, FORGIVE ME FOR THE TIMEFRAME, I CAN TELL YOU WHERE WE ARE NOW IN TERMS OF ESTABLISHING THE NEXT SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS.WE FINISHED THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS.
UH, THE CAC LED THAT ENGAGEMENT PROCESS, AND THEY WILL BE BRINGING TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, IN JANUARY, I BELIEVE IN JANUARY, OR SOMETIME IN EARLY 2023 FOR THE NEXT, UM, THREE YEAR INCREMENT.
SO WE'RE SORT OF LOOKING AT THIS OVER A THREE YEAR PERIOD, SO THAT IF WE DECIDE IF THE CAC AND BASED ON THE FEEDBACK THAT THEY'VE RECEIVED, IF WE GO FOR, WITH THE COMMUNITY INITIATED SOLUTIONS, COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS WILL HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO BEGIN TO PREPARE.
BUT THEN WE'RE ALSO, WE'RE GIVING OURSELVES TIME TO LOOK AT WHAT DOES THIS FIRST PHASE LOOK LIKE.
AND I, I, THOUGHTS MIGHT COME UP BECAUSE, UH, HE COULD SPEAK MORE TO THE TIMELINE IN TERMS OF WHERE THEY ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS OF FUNDING.
CHAIR OF SSR, CHAIR OF THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
I THINK THAT PRETTY MUCH COVERED EVERYTHING.
WHAT I WOULD HIGHLIGHT IS THE WAY WE DID THE COMMUNITY INITIATED SOLUTIONS AND IDENTIFIED THOSE 14 ORGANIZATIONS WAS ONE TO VERY COMMUNITY DRIVEN PROCESS.
SO REALLY ENGAGING THAT, BUT ALSO WHAT WE, WHAT IT REALLY WAS, WAS WE HIGHLIGHTED WHAT ARE PRIORITIES THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE AROUND, UH, SUPPORTING HOMEOWNERS AND TENANTS AND LOOKING AT OTHER ANTI DISPLACEMENT STRATEGIES AND BASED ON THAT RECEIVED PROPOSAL.
SO THE FOOTING ORGANIZATIONS, WE KNOW WHAT KIND OF ITEMS THEY'RE LOOKING AT AND WHAT KIND OF STRATEGIES THEY'RE THINKING OF.
EVERYTHING FROM SUPPORTING HOMEOWNERS, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT SOME OF THE LEGAL WORK THAT THEY HAVE TO DO, LOOKING AT DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE, RENTAL ASSISTANCE, PROVIDING, YOU KNOW, ASSISTANCE TO TENANTS TO ORGANIZE, SO ON AND SO FORTH.
SO THERE'S A LARGE ARRAY OF STRATEGIES THAT THEY'RE DOING.
AND AS WE CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, WE'VE HAD VERY CLOSE, UM, YOU KNOW, WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH FTV AND HER TEAM OF MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE TRACKING METRICS, OF GETTING GOOD OUTCOMES FROM THAT WORK, ASSESSING IT AS WE MOVE FORWARD, AND THEN ENSURING THAT WE CAN REPLICATE SOME OF THOSE PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE.
I MEAN, I THINK WHEN MY, MY CURIOSITY STEMS ABOUT WHAT'S SO UNIQUE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY INITIATIVE SOLUTIONS IS THAT THEY'RE VERY ORGANIC, RIGHT? LIKE, SOMETIMES WE THINK THAT WE CAN COME UP WITH ALL THE SOLUTIONS, BUT WHEN WE REACH OUT AND THINK OF DIFFERENT IDEAS, SOMETHING NEW CAN COME UP.
BUT WHAT, HOW DO WE EVALUATE THOSE AND ARE THEY SCALABLE? BECAUSE THIS IS A VERY LARGE PRO PROGRAM AND PROBLEM TO SOLVE.
AND I DO COMMEND YOU ALL FOR TAKING THE INITIATIVE TO TACKLE THIS CHALLENGE HEAD ON, AND BEFORE WE PUT IN THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM IN PLACE.
SO THIS IS REALLY COMMENDABLE.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR, FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND YOUR WISDOM.
SO WE THOUGHT I'D LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, CHAIR UHHUH.
UM, I ALMOST DIDN'T SAY IT, BUT I DECIDED I'M GOING TO
UM, IT'S NOT A QUESTION SO MUCH AS A STATEMENT.
I WANT YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AROUND THE ROOM, AND IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE THE FUTURE OF TRANSIT IS FEMALE.
DID Y'ALL NOTICE THE, THE MAKEUP OF THIS ROOM? THAT'S ALL.
ON THAT NOTE, YOU KNOW THAT 70% OF TRANS WRITERS AROUND THE WORLD ARE WOMEN.
SO YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED A VERY IMPORTANT STATISTIC,
AND I APPRECIATE ALL OF THE WISDOM.
UM, AND NOW THAT WE HAVE, UH, A FULL, UH, DAS, YOU KNOW, WE, UM, TODAY'S A PARTICULARLY SPECIAL DAY BECAUSE WE WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE INCREDIBLE DEDICATION OF EVERY ONE OF YOU THAT'S REPRESENTED HERE TODAY.
AND WE HAVE COLLEAGUES WHO WILL TRANSITION FROM THEIR CURRENT ROLES, BUT WHO WILL THEY KNOW THAT REMAINS STEADFAST IN THEIR ADVOCACY FOR PROJECT CONNECT? AND WE WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE OF OUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES WHO HAVE GUIDED PROJECT CONNECT TO SUCCESS, STARTING WITH MAJOR STEVE ADLER, WHO I KEEP CALLING YOU, THAT THE, WHO COINED THE PHRASE.
THIS IS THE, UM, THE RENAISSANCE OF MOBILITY.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE ENTERING THE GOLDEN AGE OF MOBILITY.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND COUNCIL MEMBER AND VICE CHAIR AND KITCHEN COUNCIL MEMBER KATHY TOVO AND COUNCIL MEMBER PI, WHO WILL NO LONGER BE WITH US AT CITY COUNCIL.
BUT YOUR COURAGE AND YOUR DEDICATION AND YOUR LEADERSHIP HAS BROUGHT US TO THIS POINT.
AND THIS ORGANIZATION, THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, WANTS TO RECOGNIZE THAT COURAGE AND THAT WE
[01:05:01]
WANT TO SHOW YOU A TOKEN OF OUR APPRECIATION MORE AS AN INVITATION FOR YOU TO CONTINUE TO JOIN US ON THIS JOURNEY.SO JUST BECAUSE YOU GET OFF THE CITY COUNCIL DI DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET OFF THE HOOK
SO WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE AND BE A CHAMPION WITH US FOR THE LONG JOURNEY.
AND WOULD I LIKE TO PRESENT TO YOU ALL A GIFT, UM, THAT WE HAVE PREPARED FOR YOU? AND SO AS WE TRANSITION STAFF FOR THE NEXT PART OF OUR AGENDA, IF EVERYONE COULD PLEASE JOIN ME ON THE CENTER PART SO WE CAN PRESENT THIS TOKEN OF APPRECIATION TO ALL OF YOU.
WHERE ARE WE GOING? WHAT ARE WE DOING? WHAT ARE WE DOING? I DT KNOW.
I THINK WE'RE GOING IN THE MIDDLE.
WE'RE WALKING THIS
WHAT YOU'RE SAY HANG IN THERE.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE GONNA DO A, DOES THIS MEAN BLOOD
ALL THE PRESENT FOR LIKE I D UNTIL EVERYONE GETS YOUR STAFF READY.
[01:10:15]
AND NEXT.[01:15:11]
SO NOW THAT WE HAVE THE STAFF BACK ON ON DECK, CAN WE GET STARTED ON THE NEXT PART OF OUR PRESENTATION PLEASE? BECAUSE WE HAVE A, I THINK SOME PEOPLE HAVE A HARD STOP AT THREE 30, CORRECT? YES.SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE STAY ON, ON TASK.
[2. Staff briefing and discussion on the status of Light Rail Implementation Plan. No action will be taken.]
SO WE WILL NOW MOVE ON INTO OUR BRIEFING AND DISCUSSION ON THE LIVE RAIL STATUS UPDATE.AND WITH US, I HAVE OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREG CANAL.
UM, I THINK AS WE TALKED ABOUT, AS A FEW COMMENTS WERE MADE, THAT IT'S ALWAYS IMPORTANT FOR US TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM IN ITSELF WAS A PROGRAM, MULTIPLE PROJECTS.
AND AS YOU JUST SAW, WE HAVE BOTH AN INTEGRATED AND INTRICATE DELIVERY OF MANY OF THOSE EFFORTS, UM, THAT ARE ROOTED IN EQUITY, ROOTED IN ADVANCING THE GOALS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE ALL MADE TOGETHER.
AND I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
WE TALK ABOUT, UM, OUR REPORT TRANSFORMING TRANSIT TOGETHER.
UM, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE AT AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP ARE REALLY FOCUSED ON AS AN IDENTITY THAT THERE'S A TOGETHERNESS OF HOW WE ADDRESS THESE COMPLICATED, UM, INVESTMENTS FOR OUR COMMUNITY, UM, THAT ARE ONGOING LONG TERM.
SO WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT WE WANNA FOCUS THIS LAST HALF OF TODAY'S DIALOGUE WITH, UM, WHERE WE ARE ON THE LIGHT RAIL, THE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL, AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT.
SO ON THE NEXT SLIDE, JUST AS A QUICK BRIEFING BEFORE WE INTRODUCE THE TEAM AGAIN, UM, WHERE HAVE WE BEEN ON THIS TOPIC? UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT BACK IN JULY, UM, WE TRANSPARENTLY ADDRESSED THE RISING COSTS OF LIGHT RAIL.
AS WE KNOW ALL AROUND THE WORLD, INCREASING INFLATION COSTS, UM, COMMODITY COSTS, UM, OTHER IMPACTS WERE AFFECTING, UH, OUR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, JUST LIKE THEY'RE BEING AFFECTED ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY AND ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
THE ISSUE IN FRONT OF US WAS HOW WE WERE GOING TO ADDRESS THAT AND HOW WE WERE GONNA TRANSPARENTLY MOVE THROUGH THE DISCUSSION AROUND THIS.
WE ROOTED THAT DISCUSSION IN EXPERTISE.
UM, WE BROUGHT IN EXPERTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY THAT HAD DEALT WITH THIS TO HELP MAP OUT A VERY WELL THOUGHT OUT RIGOROUS APPROACH TO A NEW WORK PLAN THAT WE COULD GET TO AN UPDATED LATE RAIL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO ALIGN THE PRO PROGRAM SCOPE OF LATE RAIL WITH OUR AVAILABLE FUNDING.
AND SO WE'VE DONE THAT IN A VARIETY OF WAYS.
FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE HAD, UM, BRIEFINGS AND DIALOGUES NOT ONLY WITH THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD, BUT WITH THE CITY COUNCIL, UM, MOBILITY COMMITTEE, MORE RECENTLY, THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, AS WELL AS THE CAPITAL, UM, CAPITAL METRO PLANNING AND OPS COMMITTEE.
AND WE THINK THOSE DIALOGUES ARE REALLY IMPORTANT AND BECOME PART OF OUR CONTINUING ONGOING DISCUSSIONS.
BUT WE'VE ALSO ENGAGED WITH COMMUNITY, UM, AND LEARNED HOW TO ENGAGE WITH COMMUNITY, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, AS YOU SAID, WE'RE ALWAYS LEARNING AND WE ALWAYS NEED TO BE IMPROVING UPON THAT.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE DID BACK IN MAY, UH, WHEN WE STARTED THIS, WAS LOOKING AT WHERE WE HAD, WHERE WE HAD OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE ON THAT, LOOKING AT PRIORITY POPULATIONS, NOT ONLY TARGETING THOSE, BUT HOW WE, HOW WE GO OUT AND INTER INTERFACE WITH THAT.
UM, WE DON'T VIEW THAT AS A, UM, UH, UH, SOLVING IT AND THEN MOVING FORWARD, IT'S A CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT PROCESS WHEN IT COMES TO COMMUNITY.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BUILT OUR PROCESS AROUND.
WE'VE DEVELOPED A NEW WORK PLAN TO ADVANCE FOR US TO GET FORWARD AND BRING FORWARD AN UPDATED LIGHT RAIL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
THAT WORK PLAN IS NOT JUST ON THE CLASSIC TYPICAL EFFORTS AROUND ENGINEERING AND FINANCE, BUT IN FACT, WE HAVE CATEGORIES AROUND OUR PARTNERSHIPS, OUR FEDERAL PARTNERSHIPS, OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS, UH, WE HAVE IN THE AUDIENCE TODAY, AS WELL AS OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR STAKEHOLDERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE ALL INTEGRATED IN HOW WE DEVELOP AND ADVANCE THIS EFFORT.
SO TODAY WHAT WE WANNA DO IS HAVE A DIALOGUE OF
[01:20:01]
WHERE ARE WE FIVE MONTHS LATER AFTER WE TRANSPARENTLY TALKED ABOUT THE COST OF LIGHT RAIL AND HOW WE WERE GONNA ADVANCE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL FOR OUR COMMUNITY.WE WANTED TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE, A STATUS OF THOSE EFFORTS IN ADVANCING THE WORK PLAN, UM, AND TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE TOPICS AND ISSUES.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, TALK ABOUT CRITERIA AND COMMUNITY ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA ADVANCE THIS OVER THE NEXT FIVE MONTHS THAT WE CAN BE SITTING BACK HERE IN LATE SPRING, UH, WITH A DECISION AND A RECOMMENDATION, UM, TO MOVE FORWARD AND BE READY TO ADVANCE LIGHT RAIL FOR AUSTIN.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO THE TEAM.
I THINK FIRST UP IS COURTNEY, IS THAT CORRECT? COURTNEY? ACTUALLY, I THINK I'LL GO FOR, IT'S, WE MOVED THAT SLIDE AROUND.
SO, UH, GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYBODY.
I HAVE THE GREAT HONOR OF JOINING THIS TEAM EVERY SINGLE DAY TO HELP MOVE THIS PROGRAM FORWARD.
SO I APPRECIATE THAT AND YOU GUYS SHOULD ALL ONCE AGAIN, BE APPRECIATIVE OF ALL THE STAFF EFFORTS HERE TO DATE.
UM, BUT AS GREG MENTIONED, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, WE HAVE ROOTED OUR, OUR EFFORTS OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS OR SO IN AND AROUND DATA AND DATA GATHERING AND PROVIDING DATA ON HOW WE MOVE THE PROGRAM FORWARD.
THAT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THE PLANNING EFFORTS AND THE EFFORTS AROUND EQUITY AND ANALYSIS AND, AND DIFFERENT, UM, PLANNING EFFORTS, BUT ALSO TECHNICAL REVIEW GOING BACK AND LOOKING AT SOME ITEMS THAT MAYBE WE DIDN'T LOOK AT IT AS HARD, UM, DURING THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PROGRAM, UM, EARLY IN PROJECT DEVELOPMENT THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT A LITTLE BIT HARDER NOW, AND WE'LL, UH, GO OVER THOSE HERE IN A COUPLE MINUTES.
BUT ALSO, AS GREG MENTIONED, UM, REMINDING OURSELVES OF OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS AND HOW THIS PROGRAM, UM, IS A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AMONGST MANY, UM, INCLUDING THOSE IN THIS ROOM, BUT ALSO HOPEFULLY WITH THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, UM, MOVING FORWARD WITH OUR GRANT INITIATIVES, AND THEN BUILDING AROUND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS WHERE WE ARE TODAY, UM, CONTINUING TO WORK AROUND MARKET SOUNDING AND AS THE WORLD CHANGES AND SUPPLY CHAINS AND INFLATION AND ALL THOSE GREAT THINGS WE HEAR ABOUT EVERY SINGLE DAY ON THE NEWS AND HOW THOSE IMPACT OUR ABILITY TO MOVE, MOVE THE PROGRAM FORWARD, JUST STAYING IN TUNE WITH THAT.
AND THEN CONTINUING OUR GREAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, OUR TRANSPARENCY, AND HOW WE MOVE THIS FORWARD.
SO IN JULY, UM, WE DID SET TOGETHER A WORK PLAN SCHEDULE, HIGH LEVEL SCHEDULE, UM, THAT WE WOULD BE BACK IN SPRING OF 2023, UM, FOR THE DETERMINATION OF A, A LIGHT RAIL SCOPE AND PHASING.
AND WE ARE ON, ON SCHEDULE TO, TO DO THAT.
SO HOW ARE WE GONNA GET THERE? UM, SO I'LL JUST REMIND EVERYBODY THAT WE ARE IN A FEDERAL PROCESS.
THE FEDERAL GRANT PROCESS HAS, UH, THIS CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM, UM, THROUGH THE FEDERAL TRANS ADMINISTRATION HAS BASICALLY THREE DISTINCT AREAS.
ONE'S CALLED PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, ONE'S CALLED ENGINEERING, AND THE, THE LAST ONE'S CALLED CONSTRUCTION.
AND DURING PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, UM, THE, THE FEDERAL TRANS ADMINISTRATION AS A FUTURE INVESTOR IN THE PROGRAM DOES EXPECT THEIR COMMUNITY, UM, TO DECIDE AND WORK THROUGH THEIR, UM, DIFFERENT TYPES OF ISSUES AND DIFFERENT THINGS THAT ALL THESE PROGRAMS HAVE.
THIS, THIS, WERE NO DIFFERENT THAN ANYBODY ELSE.
AND COMING TOGETHER WITH A COMMUNITY DRIVEN AND A AND A TRANSPARENT PROCESS OF, OF, UH, WHAT DO THEY WANT TO ASK THE FEDERAL TRANS ADMINISTRATION TO INVEST IN.
SO THAT'S PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, AND WE ARE IN PROCESS OF THAT.
UM, SO AS PART OF THAT, UM, WE ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO REVIEW THE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS, ALL THE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE TO DATE, UM, CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THAT, UM, CONTINUE TO LOOK AT DIFFERENT, UM, ASPECTS OF HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO OPTIMIZE THAT BASED ON OUR CURRENT FINANCIAL, UM, SITUATION, UM, AS YOU MOVE FORWARD, AND THEN ANALYZE OPPORTUNITIES AND SOME CRITERIA THAT WE'LL SPEAK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TODAY.
BUT THEN IN THE FUTURE, UM, WE WILL BE, UM, BRINGING BEFORE THE POLICY BOARDS SOME, YOU KNOW, PHASING OPTIONS AND GOING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AND TALKING TO THEM ABOUT THAT.
AND CULMINATING IN THE SPRING WITH THE RECOMMENDATION AND APPROVAL BY THE, BY THE THREE BOARDS, UM, ASSOCIATED WITH, WITH THE PROGRAM AND HOW WE MOVE FORWARD AND IN, INTO THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, UM, NEXT SLIDE.
COURTNEY, YOU WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE WORK THIS INTO THE PROGRAM? SURE.
AND SO THIS IS A DIFFERENT VIEW OF WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW WITH THE WORK WE'RE DOING AT THE STAFF LEVEL, WHICH YOU HEARD BRIAN TALK ABOUT THE TECHNICAL TECHNICAL ANALYSIS TO THE EVALUATION CRITERIA.
AND WHAT YOU'LL SEE IS THAT WE'VE ENCOMPASSED EVERYTHING WITHIN THE WORLD OF EQUITY AND SUSTAINABILITY, MEANING THAT EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS ALONG THE WAY WE'RE MAINTAINING THOSE PRINCIPLES, WE'RE UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS AND SEEING THE INTENTIONALITY TO ENSURE THAT AS WE GET TO PHASING, WE WILL BE ABLE TO PULL TOGETHER COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FEEDBACK, UNDERSTANDING THE ANALYSIS FROM THAT EQUITY SUSTAINABLE LENS.
WHAT DOES THAT ACTUALLY MEAN? WHAT DOES EQUITY LOOK LIKE IN ACTION? SO AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL, WE'RE GONNA BE ASKING SOME BASIC
[01:25:01]
QUESTIONS AS A STARTING POINT, AND IT'S ALL BASED AROUND IMPACTS AND OUTCOMES.UM, LOOKING AT WHAT ARE THE PHASING OPTIONS IN RELATION TO IMPACT TO OUR CORE WRITERS, OUR TRANS INDEPENDENT WRITERS? ARE WE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO BUILD RIDERSHIP WITHIN THAT COMMUNITY AS WELL? UM, HOW WILL THE PHASING OPPORTUNITIES AND OPTIONS, UM, BUILD INTO OUR, OUR WILLING, OUR OUR NEED TO, UM, ENHANCE COMMUNITY CHARACTER AND COMMUNITY VALUES? UM, WHAT ARE THE CO BENEFITS TO OUR WRITERS? MEANING ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL HEALTH IMPACTS? WHAT IS, WHAT WILL THIS PROJECT BRING, BRING TO THAT COMMUNITY? WE NEED TO ANSWER ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS SO THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND EACH OF THE OPTIONS FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE AS WE PULL TOGETHER ALL OF THE DIFFERENT CRITERIA AS WELL.
SO, UH, PETER AND I ARE GOING TO, UH, TAG TEAM THESE NEXT TWO SLIDES.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S MANY DIFFERENT LEVERS YOU CAN LOOK AT, UM, TO MOVE TO, TO ALIGN YOUR, YOUR SYSTEM WITH, WITH THE SCOPE AND WITH THE BUDGETS AND AROUND ALL OF THAT.
UM, YOU OBVIOUSLY GOTTA HAVE LOGICAL ENDPOINTS OF, OF A PROGRAM.
UM, SO WE ARE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT ENDPOINTS FOR THE PROGRAM AND THE PHASING OF THE PROGRAM AND HOW THOSE LOGICALLY, UM, WORK THEIR WAY, NOT ONLY FROM A COMMUNITY STANDPOINT, BUT THIS IS ALSO A CRITERIA IN WHICH THE FTA WILL LOOK AT THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CONNECTING THINGS, THAT WE HAVE MULTIMODAL CONNECTIVITY AT THE ER ENDPOINTS AND, UH, ALL THE, UH, CONNECTIVITY TO PLACES WHERE PEOPLE NEED TO LIVE, WORK IN PLAY, AND HOW, HOW THAT ALL BUILDS IN, UM, TO THE SYSTEM.
SO THE TEAM IS, IS GOING THROUGH AN ANALYSIS RIGHT NOW TO LOOK, LOOK AT THOSE DIFFERENT TYPES OF, UM, ASPECTS IN AND AROUND SOME DIFFERENT ENDPOINTS ON, ON THE SYSTEM.
WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT EVERY SINGLE DAY WE HAVE OPERATORS AND PEOPLE THAT MAINTAIN THE SYSTEM THAT NEED TO REPORT TO A FACILITY AND, AND THE VEHICLES THEMSELVES NEED TO, UM, SPEND THE NIGHT AT A FACILITY AND GET WASHED AND CLEANED AND, AND WORK THEIR WAY THROUGH THAT.
AND FINDING A MAINTENANCE FACILITY FOR AN URBAN LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING THINGS ON, ON AN ENTIRE PROGRAM.
AND WE, WE HAVE OUR CHALLENGES HERE, UM, BUT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED SOME ADDITIONAL SITES THAT HAVE ADDED SOME FLEXIBILITY TO OUR PHASING CONVERSATION, UM, THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF EACH ONE OF THOSE.
UM, SO WE HAVE IDENTIFIED SOME POSSIBLE MAINTENANCE FACILITY SITES, UM, THAT WE'LL BE WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH THAT.
ONCE AGAIN, JUST ADD SOME FLEXIBILITY TO THE CONVERSATION MOVING FORWARD.
SYSTEMS IN VEHICLES, THIS IS A, THIS IS A TECHNOLOGY CONVERSATION A LITTLE BIT.
UM, THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT SIZES OF VEHICLES, MANY DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS OF VEHICLES, UM, MANY DIFFERENT BELLS AND WHISTLES YOU CAN PUT INSIDE VEHICLES.
UM, BUT BALANCING, UM, WHERE WE ARE WITH OUR VEHICLE NEEDS TO, TO MOVE PEOPLE, UM, TO GET PEOPLE SAFELY FROM POINT A TO POINT B, UM, THROUGH THE SYSTEM AND, AND BALANCING THAT WITH THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE VEHICLE NEEDS OF THE SYSTEM AND THE REQUIREMENTS.
SO WE'RE WORKING OUR WAY, UM, THROUGH, THROUGH THAT WHOLE ENTIRE ANALYSIS AND LOOKING AT THAT.
AND THEN JUST VERTICAL ALIGNMENT.
WE'VE HAD SOME DISCUSSIONS ABOUT SIMPLIFIED TUNNEL AND CONTINUING THOSE CONVERSATIONS, ESPECIALLY IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, WHICH WE'LL SPEAK HERE IN A MINUTE, A FOCUS ON THAT.
BUT IN OTHER AREAS AROUND THE ALIGNMENT, WE DO HAVE SOME AERIAL STRUCTURE THAT WE, WE ARE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT OPTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT AND JUST WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH THAT AND OPTIMIZING THAT, UM, BASED ON WHERE WE ARE IN OUR CURRENT, UM, PROGRAM.
YEAH, SO I THINK THE OPTIMIZATION IS REALLY THE KEY WORD HERE, RIGHT? WE'RE ALWAYS ROOTING.
UM, YOU KNOW, OUR PROGRAM HAS TO BE ROOTED BACK TO OUR VALUES, RIGHT? AND SO THE QUESTION IS, HOW DO WE SERVE THOSE VALUES, ACHIEVE THOSE VALUES IN THE MOST OPTIMAL WAY? UM, SO THIS PROCESS THAT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW IS NOT ABOUT MAKING DECISIONS, IT'S ABOUT, UM, SORT OF SCOURING ALL OF OUR OPTIONS TO SEE WHAT IS AVAILABLE TO US SO THAT WE CAN OPTIMIZE THE PROGRAM.
UM, AND I THINK, UH, AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, IT GETS COMPLICATED IN OUR JOB RIGHT NOW, IS TO TRY TO REALLY BE AS THOROUGH AS WE CAN ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THOSE OPTIONS SO THAT WE CAN PRESENT THOSE OPTIONS AS CLEARLY AND CONCISELY TO THE PUBLIC AS POSSIBLE.
UM, AND YOU SEE A FEW OF THEM ON THE SCREEN, BUT THEY, THERE ARE MORE, RIGHT? UM, AND I THINK THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT'S BEEN OUR MANTRA HAS ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, REIMAGINE OR VALIDATE, RIGHT? ALL OF OUR ASSUMPTIONS TO DATE, WE SHOULD BE REIMAGINE OR VALIDATING THEM AS WE BRING THE OPTIONS FORWARD TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE NEXT.
SO ONE OF THE AREAS WHERE WE HAVE BEEN SPENDING SOME TIME, AND THIS IS ONE, ONE AREA, NOT THE ONLY ONE, UM, IS LOOKING AT DOWNTOWN, RIGHT? AND THE ALIGNMENT DOWNTOWN.
UM, IN PART BECAUSE, UM, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A CRUCIAL AREA IN TERMS OF RIDERSHIP, UM, AND USE OF THE SYSTEM, PROJECTED USE OF THE SYSTEM.
UM, BUT IT'S ALSO WHERE THE TWO LINE LIGHT RAIL LINES COME TOGETHER.
SO IT'S KIND OF A CRUCIAL PART OF THE ALIGNMENT.
[01:30:01]
IN OUR PREVIOUS IMAGINATION, THIS IS WHERE A LOT OF THE RESOURCES WERE BEING ALLOCATED IN THE TUNNEL.AND AS YOU, YOU KNOW, OVER THE COURSE OF THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING PROCESS, THE TUNNEL KIND OF GREW A LITTLE BIT.
UM, AND SO PART OF THE, THE EXERCISE RIGHT NOW IS LOOKING AT WHAT OPTIONS DO WE HAVE REGARDING THIS ALIGNMENT IN THIS AREA? UM, AS, AS BRIAN MENTIONED, CAN WE SIMPLIFY THE TUNNEL TO, TO ACTUALLY MAKE THAT MORE COST EFFECTIVE? UM, CAN WE, SHOULD WE LOOK AT AREAS WHERE THERE IT'S ELEVATED WHERE WE ACHIEVE GRADE SEPARATION, UM, AND THE EFFICIENCIES ASSOCIATED WITH THAT, THAT ARE SIMILAR TO AN UNDERGROUND SYSTEM, UM, BUT MAYBE DO THAT IN A MORE COST EFFECTIVE WAY.
AND ARE THERE PLACES WHERE WE COULD, UM, USE A, AN ACT AADE UH, ALIGNMENT, RIGHT? SO LOOKING AT WHAT THE, THE IMPACTS OF THOSE DIFFERENT OPTIONS ARE SO THAT THEN WE CAN MEASURE THOSE, UM, AGAINST ONE ANOTHER AND HAVE THAT CONVERSATION WITH THE PUBLIC.
SO WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT RIGHT NOW, AND IT'S SORT OF A COMPLICATED SOUP.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, UH, YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE, THE SORT OF THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICS OF THE, THAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT.
OBVIOUSLY IF WE'RE AT LOOKING AT AN A GRADE OPTION, UM, ONE OF THE ISSUES IS TOPOGRAPHY AND HOW WE ACTUALLY MANAGE THAT.
OBVIOUSLY LOOKING AT TRAFFIC IMPACTS, THAT'S ANOTHER BIG ONE.
UM, ONE OF THE, THE, THE ELEMENTS THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS THE POSSIBILITY OF HAVING A SINGLE LAKE CROSSING AS OPPOSED TO TWO LAKE CROSSINGS, SO THAT THE TWO LINES WOULD MEET ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE, OF THE LAKE AS OPPOSED TO THE NORTHERN SIDE OF THE LAKE, UM, AS A WAY TO, AGAIN, OPTIMIZE OUR RESOURCES, UM, THAT HAS IMPACTS ON STATION LOCATIONS, ET CETERA.
SO, UM, WE'RE TRYING TO LOOK AT ALL THESE THINGS AND FLESH OUT ALL THE IMPACTS SO THAT THEN WE CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND THEM AND PRESENT THEM COHERENTLY TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, YOU KNOW, NEXT SPRING, UM, AGAIN, THIS IS ONE AREA OF INVESTIGATION THAT'S NOT THE ONLY ONE, BUT ONE WHERE WE'RE SPENDING A LOT OF TIME AND WE'LL BE COMING BACK TO THE PUBLIC WITH, UH, NEXT, UM, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THERE ANY, DO WE WANNA TAKE QUESTIONS AS WE GO OR WE WANT TO GET TO THE END? WHAT DO YOU, HOW DO, HOW WOULD, WOULD YOU PREFER TO HANDLE IT? GET TO THE END? OKAY, GREAT.
I'M WITH ATP, CHIEF OF PLANNING AND RISK MANAGEMENT.
UH, SO AS THE TECHNICAL WORK CONTINUES, YOU KNOW, WE WILL BE IN A PLACE WHERE WE HAVE OPTIONS BEFORE US, UH, FOR PHASING THE PROJECT AND, AND IMPLEMENTING THE LIGHT RAIL PROGRAM.
AND SO WE ARE THINK THOSE OPTIONS THAT WILL BE BEFORE US, WHAT INFORMATION WILL WE WANNA HAVE AT HAND TO MAKE THE DECISIONS THAT WILL NEED TO BE MADE NEXT YEAR? UH, SO WE'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT IN, IN A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
ONE IS, UM, WHAT DO WE NEED TO BE COMPETITIVE FOR THE GRANTS FROM FTA THAT WE ARE PURSUING? AND ALSO, UM, WHAT, WHAT OTHER CRITERIA THAT ARE REALLY ROOTED MORE IN THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY DO WE WANNA APPLY, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DECISIONS WE'RE MAKING REALLY REFLECT THE COMMUNITY'S PRIORITIES AND VALUES? SO I'M GOING TO, OH, SORRY.
CAN YOU, UH, ADVANCE THE SLIDE, PLEASE? LET ME JUST TALK FOR JUST A SECOND ABOUT THE FTA CRITERIA.
SO THESE CRITERIA, UM, THAT ARE USED BY FTA TO, UM, EVALUATE PROJECTS FOR NEW STARTS FUNDING, IT'S QUITE PRESCRIBED.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE COMPETING OR WILL BE COMPETING WITH PROJECTS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AND SO THIS IS A WAY TO, UH, NORMALIZE AND, AND COMPARE THOSE PROJECTS.
UM, ANY, UM, INITIAL PROJECT OR PROJECTS THAT WE PUT FORWARD WILL NEED TO BE COMPETITIVE FOR THESE FUNDS.
UM, ABOUT HALF OF THE EVALUATION IS THE FINANCIAL PLAN, WHICH LOOKS AT THE COMMITMENT OF LOCAL FUNDS, UM, AND, AND ESSENTIALLY WHAT THE FINANCIAL PLAN TO DELIVER THE PROJECT IS.
AND THEN THE OTHER 50% IS DIVIDED BETWEEN THOSE OTHER SIX ITEMS THAT ARE LISTED UP HERE.
UH, AND AGAIN, THESE ARE, ARE FAIRLY CALCULATED AND, UH, LARGELY LOOKING AT RIDERSHIP.
WHAT KIND OF RIDERSHIP, UM, CAN WE, UH, DO WE PREDICT THAT THESE PROJECTS WILL PRODUCE, UM, WHAT'S THE COST? WHAT'S THE COST EFFECTIVENESS FOR THOSE RIDER BENEFITS? UM, YOU KNOW, WE ALSO LOOK AT NEW RIDERS, UM, RIDERS WHO ARE TRANSIT DEPENDENT, AND WE CAN BREAK DOWN, UH, WHO'S RECEIVING THOSE BENEFITS.
UH, AND IN ADDITION, THERE'S A MORE QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND WE CAN CONNECT THAT BACK TO ACTUALLY CHARMILLA REFERRED TO THESE ITEMS, UH, EARLIER TODAY.
UH, THESE ARE REALLY LOOKING AT WHAT IS THE EXISTING LAND USE? UM, IS IT SUPPORTING TRANSIT? AND WHAT PLANS AND POLICIES ARE IN PLACE FOR FUTURE LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UM, THAT WILL SUPPORT THIS TRANSIT INVESTMENT.
NOW CAN WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE? SO FOR THE, THE COMMUNITY VALUES CRITERIA, UM, IN OUR, OUR THINKING TO DATE ON THIS, WHERE WE REALLY STARTED, UM, WAS WITH THE, THE JPA AND THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS.
AND LOOKING AT THE, THE PROGRAM GOALS THAT WERE, WERE ROOTED IN THOSE, UM, WITH OUR ASSESSMENT OF THIS PROJECT AND EVALUATING THE OPTIONS, WE REALLY WANNA BE COGNIZANT OF FURTHERING THE PROGRAM GOALS THAT WERE APPROVED BY VOTERS.
[01:35:01]
UH, WE ALSO ARE LOOKING QUITE A BIT AT OTHER PLANS THAT HAVE COME BEFORE THE A S M P IMAGINE AUSTIN, AND, AND THERE ARE MANY OTHERS.UH, SO AUSTIN'S DONE A LOT OF PLANNING, UM, AND WHAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT NOW IS HOW TO MOVE THOSE PLAN GOALS FORWARD, YOU KNOW, WITH THIS TYPE OF INVESTMENT.
SO IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, WE'VE BEEN SPENDING A LOT OF TIME OVER THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS COLLECTING THE DATA THAT WE WILL NEED AND WANT TO, TO CONSIDER THE OPTIONS.
AND IT'S, IT'S DATA, BUT IT REALLY DOES ALL COME BACK TO PEOPLE IN PLACES, UM, TO ALLOW US TO THINK, YOU KNOW, IN A DATABASE WAY ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING ALONG THE CORRIDOR, WHO'S LIVING THERE, UM, WHAT KIND OF EMPLOYMENT AND DESTINATIONS ARE THERE, WHAT IS THE HOUSING, UH, CHARACTERISTICS, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE STATIONS.
UM, SO WE CAN REALLY THINK ABOUT, UM, WHO ARE WE SERVING AND WHAT ARE WE CONNECTING, YOU KNOW, AS WE MAKE THESE DECISIONS, UH, YOU KNOW, ULTIMATELY WE REALLY WANNA BE IN A POSITION TO, UM, MEET OUR CURRENT TRANSIT NEEDS, BUT ALSO BE THINKING AHEAD, UM, ABOUT FUTURE NEEDS AND ARE WE, YOU KNOW, BUILDING THE CAPACITY TO MEET THOSE NEEDS.
UM, CAN WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE? SO, SO FAR, UM, THE COMMUNITY VALUES CRITERIA THAT WE'VE BEEN THINKING THROUGH, WE'RE ABLE TO PUT IT IN FOUR BUCKETS, AND I'LL GO THROUGH EACH OF THESE BRIEFLY, BUT YOU'LL SEE THAT THESE ARE NOT NECESSARILY NEW CONSIDERATIONS.
I MEAN, CERTAINLY WE'VE BEEN IN PLANNING MODE, UM, FOR THIS PROGRAM FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS.
UM, WHAT WE WANNA DO RIGHT NOW IS REALLY VALIDATE, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, MAKE SURE WE'RE THINKING ABOUT WHAT'S IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW, AND THAT WE HAVE CURRENT INFORMATION AND WE WANNA BE WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY AND, AND ALL THE STAKEHOLDERS TO, UM, GET THAT FEEDBACK ON, UM, WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING, WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES? AND ALSO, ARE WE MISSING ANYTHING, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE THINKING THROUGH THIS, IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO THE FIRST BUCKET, UM, MOBILITY AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, AND WHAT THIS IS REALLY ABOUT IS, UM, AS WE LOOK ACROSS THE OPTIONS, TO WHAT EXTENT ARE WE IMPROVING MOBILITY AND EXPERIENCE IN TERMS OF WE'RE REALLY PROVIDING A CONVENIENT, USEFUL, AND PRODUCTIVE TRANSIT SERVICE.
SO THE DATA THAT WE CAN BRING TO BEAR TO, TO THINK THROUGH THIS, A BIG ONE CERTAINLY IS RIDERSHIP.
WE'RE ABLE TO MODEL THAT, UM, AND LOOK AT TOTAL RIDERSHIP RIDERSHIP AT DIFFERENT STATIONS, AND ALSO WHO'S RIDING, WHO'S NEW TO TRANSIT THAT WE'RE ATTRACTING BECAUSE WE'RE PROVIDING COMPETITIVE TRAVEL TIMES, WE'LL ALSO BE LOOKING AT BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIVITY.
UM, THERE'S A GREAT, YOU KNOW, BIKE NETWORK IN PARTICULAR, YOU KNOW, IN AUSTIN.
AND WE WANNA BE ABLE TO CONNECT WITH THAT TO PROVIDE REALLY SEAMLESS CONNECTIONS WITH ANY TRANSIT INVESTMENT WE MAKE IN THAT FIRST LAST MILE CONNECTIVITY.
THIS IS ACTUALLY, SORRY, JUST TO LET IN HERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, UH, WE WERE VISITED BY A, UH, A GROUP FROM THE NETHERLANDS, UM, AS PART OF THIS THINK BIKE PROGRAM.
AND IT WAS REALLY IN PART OF CELEBRATION OF THE LAST DECADE OF INVESTMENTS IN OUR CYCLING NETWORK IN, IN AUSTIN, AS WELL AS LOOKING FORWARD ABOUT HOW WE CAN CONTINUE TO, TO IMPROVE THAT.
AND, AND IT WAS REALLY RELEVANT TO OUR WORK HERE BECAUSE ONE OF THE POINTS THAT WAS MADE WAS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A WALK SHED DISTANCE AND THEN THERE'S A BIKE SHED, DIFFERENT DISTANCE.
AND SO IF WE START TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CONNECT INVESTMENTS IN OUR CYCLING NETWORK WITH OUR INVESTMENTS IN RAIL, BECAUSE ALL THESE ELEMENTS HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER, AND IT WAS JUST A GREAT REMINDER, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT LIGHT RAIL, THE DECISIONS HAVE TO BE MADE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ENTIRE PROGRAM AND THE ENTIRE MOBILITY NETWORK, RIGHT? SO CONSTANTLY BRINGING THAT BACK.
UM, AND SO I JUST WANT TO CALL OUT ANIQUE WHO DID A LOT OF WORK ON THAT PROGRAM BACK IN THE DAY AND, UM, SET THE, THE FOUNDATION FOR IT.
AND I THINK IT'S, AND UM, AND TO THE MAYOR AND OTHERS WHO HAVE SUPPORTED IT OVER THESE MANY YEARS, CUZ I THINK IT'S AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS WORK NOW.
AND ON THAT TOPIC OF CONNECTIVITY, CERTAINLY ALSO LOOKING AT TRANSFERS TO BUS AND RAIL AND THE SEAMLESSNESS OF THE TRANSIT NETWORK.
UH, AND WE ARE GONNA BE LOOKING AT TRAFFIC OF COURSE TOO.
YOU KNOW, AS PETER MENTIONED, WE ARE LOOKING AT SOME ADDITIONAL AT GRADE OPTIONS, ESPECIALLY DOWNTOWN.
AND SO WE WANNA, YOU KNOW, HAVE A GOOD SENSE FOR HOW, UH, THE STREET NETWORK WILL PERFORM HERE.
UM, THIS TOPIC IS REALLY ABOUT KIND OF MAKING MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY AND LOOKING AT, ESPECIALLY WITH PHASING OPTIONS.
UM, WHERE AND WHO ARE WE PROVIDING ACCESS TO, UM, AND WHEN WE'RE COMPARING THOSE OPTIONS.
UM, SO CERTAINLY WE'VE BEEN, UM, COMPILING DATA ON POPULATION DENSITIES, EMPLOYMENT, UH, DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA, UM, TO REALLY UNDERSTAND, UH, KINDA WHAT'S GOING ON AT THE STATIONARIES THAT WE'RE EVALUATING.
UM, AND WE'LL BE ESPECIALLY WORKING WITH, UM, AS PART OF THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS ON THE ACCESS TO KEY DESTINATIONS, REALLY LOOKING AT WHERE PEOPLE NEED TO CONNECT TO AND PRIORIT, UH, PRIORITIZING
[01:40:01]
THAT WE, UH, MAKE THAT CONNECTIVITY HAPPEN.UM, ON THE TOPIC OF ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS, UM, AT THE LEVEL THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE AT, WHICH IS REALLY LOOKING AT MORE THE GENERALLY WHAT CORRIDORS AND, AND PHASING, UM, AND WHO WILL BE SERVING, UH, SOME OF THE KEY AREAS THAT WE ARE THINKING TO LOOK AT HERE, ONE IS WITH GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND SUPPORTING THOSE LARGER CLIMATE CHANGE GOALS, UM, WITH, UH, PUTTING A A, A GOOD TRANSIT PRODUCT IN PLACE AND PROVIDING COMPETITIVE TRAVEL TIMES FOR PEOPLE THAT WILL GET PEOPLE OUT OF CARS AND AND ONTO TRANSIT.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN MODEL AND, AND PROJECT THAT KIND OF MODE SHIFT.
AND TO WHAT EXTENT, UH, WE WOULD BE SUPPORTING THOSE GOALS.
UH, WE WILL CAN ALSO BE LOOKING AT, UH, FOR THE DIFFERENT PHASING AND DIFFERENT OPTIONS, WHAT KIND OF DIFFERENTIAL IS THERE AS FAR AS IMPACTS ON DIFFERENT RESOURCES THAT ARE SENSITIVE IN THE COMMUNITIES, WHETHER IT'S PARKLAND, UM, PUBLIC SPACES, TREES, YOU KNOW, WATER RESOURCES.
SO THESE ARE AREAS WHERE WE'RE LOOKING AT, AGAIN, JUST KIND OF CHARACTERIZING AND COMPILE DATA TO SUPPORT THE DECISIONS.
SO, SO THIS IS ONE WHERE, THIS MAY NOT BE A DIFFERENTIATOR BETWEEN DIFFERENT OPTIONS, BUT PART OF OUR PROCESS RIGHT NOW IS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENTIATORS AND WHAT ARE NOT RIGHT? UM, AND TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT THAT, THAT DATA BACK TO THE PUBLIC.
SO IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO THIS IS THE LAST BUCKET AND IT'S LAND USE AND HOUSING.
AND CERTAINLY FROM ALL THE INPUT WE'VE HEARD SO FAR, UM, WE REALLY UNDERSTAND THAT HOUSING IS A CRITICAL ISSUE.
UM, WHEN YOU LOOK AT IMAGINE AUSTIN AND ALSO OTHER PLANS, UM, THERE'S A HIGHLIGHT FOR THE, THE LINK BETWEEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND TRANSIT.
UM, AND SO IN THE, IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EVALUATION THAT WE'LL BE DOING, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE PROPOSING TO LOOK AT ARE, UM, AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS THAT, UH, THE TRANSIT INVESTMENT WOULD SERVE.
UM, AND ARE WE SERVING FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES, UM, TO SUPPORT THE, UH, MORE AFFORDABLE AND ATTAINABLE HOUSING WITHIN CENTRAL AUSTIN? UM, AND THINKING, UM, CLEARLY ABOUT HOW WE CAN CONNECT WITH THE ANTI-DISPLACEMENT PROGRAM AND THE ETO PLANNING THAT'S ONGOING AS WELL.
UM, BOTH THOSE EFFORTS HAVE GENERATED A LOT OF REALLY EXCELLENT DATA THAT WE'RE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, BRING TO BEAR TO SOME OF THIS DECISION MAKING AND THINK ABOUT, UM, TO WHAT EXTENT THE OPTIONS BEFORE US WILL SUPPORT, UH, ANTIS DISPLACEMENT, UH, AND EQUITABLE TOD GOALS.
YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
IF I COULD BEFORE, BEFORE WE GO ON, RIGHT.
UM, ONE, ONE OF THE DIFFICULTIES THAT WE HAVE IN PRECINCT ONE, I'LL, I'LL JUST SPEAK ABOUT PRECINCT ONE.
UH, WE TALK ABOUT AFFORDABILITY, UM, IN TOWN FOR MY COMMUNITY THAT DOESN'T EXIST.
AND, UM, I, I HEAR A LOT OF FOLKS THAT ARE NEW URBANISTS THAT TALK ABOUT AN, AN AFFORDABILITY THAT DOES NOT EXIST.
HOW DO WE GET THERE? AND IF, AND IN THE MEANTIME, HOW DO WE SERVE THOSE FAMILIES WHO ARE TRANSIT DEPENDENT, WHO ARE BEING PUSHED OUT OF THE CITY? UH, I, I KNOW THAT A LOT NEEDS TO HAPPEN DOWNTOWN, A LOT SHOULD HAPPEN DOWNTOWN.
BUT IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SERVING LOW TO MODERATE INCOME COMMUNITIES AND WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE EASTERN CRESCENT AND HOW WE BRING BACK A DISCUSSION OF THE GREEN LINE, WE ARE BLOWING SMOKE, HOW DO WE GET THERE? SO I'LL JUMP IN HERE AND SAY THAT, UM, THOUGH THIS CONVERSATION IS IN PARTICULAR ABOUT THE IN INITIAL PHASING OF, OF LIGHT RAIL, RIGHT? UM, WE ARE STILL MAINTAINING THOSE DISCUSSIONS AROUND THE GREEN LINE.
WE'RE STILL MAINTAINING DISCUSSIONS AROUND WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE FOR THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT, UM, ARE GOING TO BE MOST IMPACTED, BUT THOSE WHO ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO DISPLACEMENT.
SO THOSE CONVERSATIONS ARE STILL HAPPENING AND WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST STEPS FORWARD TO ENSURE THAT WE DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF THAT AT ANY POINT ALONG THE WAY IN THIS DISCUSSION.
AND JUST A FOLLOW UP, UH, ON THAT COMMENT IN, IN MY DISTRICT, UH, WE HAVE THE RUNDBERG STOP, WHICH AGAIN, I'M SURE THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE HERE THAT WILL CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT I BELIEVE THAT'S THE NUMBER ONE, UH, TRANSIT STOP OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN, UH, VERY LOW INCOME COMMUNITY SURROUNDING THAT AREA THAT WOULD BENEFIT GREATLY FROM A QUICKER, MORE RELIABLE, MORE CONSISTENT, UH, TRANSIT OPTION.
UH, SO I, I, I WOULD ECHO THOSE COMMENTS TO, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE PLAN DOESN'T JUST SERVE, YOU KNOW, DOWNTOWN, WHICH OBVIOUSLY DOWNTOWN IS A HARD, THERE'S SO MUCH OPPORTUNITY, SO MANY JOBS THERE WE'VE GOTTA GET TO DOWNTOWN.
BUT IT, WITH THE GENTRIFICATION
[01:45:01]
PATTERNS THAT WE'VE SEEN WHERE WE HAVE OUR, UH, MINORITY POPULATIONS, BROWN AND BLACK POPULATIONS, LOWER INCOME POPULATIONS BEING PUSHED OUT, WE AS POLICY MAKERS NEED TO REACH OUT TO THEM, NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, THROUGH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, BUT THROUGH MAKING SURE THAT OUR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS REACH THOSE AREAS AS WELL SO THAT THEY HAVE ACCESS TO THE NUMEROUS OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE, UH, IN THE CENTRAL CITY.SO, UH, I JUST WANTED TO TURN EMPHASIZE THAT POINT.
THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER BELLA.
AND I THINK, UH, YOU HAD A COMMENT COUNCIL MEMBER.
BUT IF YOU WANT, I KNOW WE'RE ALMOST FINISHED IF YOU WANNA FINISH.
YEAH, WE HAVE ONE MORE SLIDE,
THE LAST SLIDE IS MINE, SO I'LL, I'LL JUMP RIGHT ON IN.
WHICH IS TO GO BACK TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, IT IS A FOUNDATION PART OF WHAT WE NEED TO DO BECAUSE REACHING OUT TO COMMUNITIES IS NOT ONLY NECESSARY, IT'S IMPORTANT SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE BUILDING, HOW WE'RE BUILDING, AND THAT WE'RE BUILDING IT FOR PEOPLE THAT, UM, NEED THE SERVICE.
UH, WE DID TAKE A MOMENT, GREG MENTIONED THIS EARLIER, TO ASSESS HOW ATP WAS DOING IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND RECOGNIZE THE IMMENSE WORK THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN DONE, BUT ALSO SEEING THE GAPS IN OUR ENGAGEMENT.
AND SO OVER THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS, WE'RE TAKING AN INTENTIONAL LOOK AT THAT TO MOVE OUR ENGAGEMENT INTO FOCUS GROUP CONCEPTS AND OTHER INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS TO GET TO REACH MORE OF THE COMMUNITIES OF COLOR THAT WE'VE MISSED OR WHO HAVE NOT ACTIVELY BEEN ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR PROGRAMMING.
THAT IS OUR PRIMARY FOCUS OF THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS THAT WE'RE GONNA BUILD OUT TO THEN EXTEND INTO OUR LARGER SCALE ENGAGEMENT AS WE MOVE CLOSER TO, UM, THE PHASING OPTION PORTION IN THE SPRING, BUT ALSO WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GROUP ON THIS AT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.
AND I'LL JUST ADD THAT THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE HAS BEEN VERY INVOLVED WITH THIS ASPECT OF THE WORK THROUGH OUR DIFFERENT WORKING GROUPS, AND WE'RE STILL WORKING WITH OUR STAFF TO MAKE SURE THAT WE INFORM THEM.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, COURTNEY AND THE STAFF HAVE MENTIONED IT WELL THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE MEETING.
THE IDEA IS HOW DO WE REALLY ENGAGE AND CONVERSE WITH FOLKS WHO ARE HISTORICALLY LEFT OUT OF SUCH CONVERSATIONS? AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT OUR FOCUS IS.
AND PART OF THAT IS REALIZING THAT BUSINESS AS USUAL WILL JUST NOT WORK ANYMORE.
WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH INNOVATIVE AND NEW WAYS OF ENGAGING WITH THEM, WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES WHERE THEY ARE, AND REALLY ENSURING THAT PEOPLE ARE PART OF THESE CONVERSATIONS.
AND ONE ASPECT OF THAT IS REALLY UNDERSTANDING THAT DIFFERENT METHODS AND STRATEGIES WILL BE REQUIRED TO ENGAGE AROUND DIFFERENT KINDS OF QUESTIONS AND DIFFERENT KINDS OF THINGS THAT WE WANT TO LEARN FROM OUR COMMUNITY.
SO THOSE ARE ALL PART OF THE CONVERSATION THAT WE'RE HAVING.
AND AGAIN, I'LL JUST, YOU KNOW, SAY ON BEHALF OF THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WE'RE VERY HEARTENED TO SEE THE WAY THE PROJECT IS PROCEEDING AND THE WAY STAFF IS ENGAGING IN THIS BECAUSE WE CAN REALLY SEE THE STRONG COMMITMENTS TO EQUITY, ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY AND BEING TRANSPARENT IN THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING, AND ALSO CREATING THE SPACE AS WE'VE SEEN IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS FOR THE COMMUNITY TO REALLY ENGAGE IN THESE QUESTIONS.
AND I KNOW THERE'S A LOT MORE WORK AHEAD, BUT I KNOW A LOT OF FOLKS ARE EXCITED TO STILL WORK ON IT.
AND SO, AND I'LL END WITH SAYING THAT WE RECOGNIZE EVERYTHING THAT YOU'VE SAID ABOUT HOW WE TRANSLATE OVER THE INFORMATION.
IT IS TECHNICAL, IT IS CHALLENGE TO DO THAT, BUT IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
AND SO THAT IS ON OUR, UH, IT'S ON OUR TO-DO LIST AND WE WILL, WE WILL ACHIEVE THAT.
THANK YOU TEAM FOR THE HEAVY LIFT AND THE WONDERFUL WORK.
I WOULD LIKE TO OPEN NOW THIS FOR DISCUSSION AND I'D LIKE TO REQUEST EVERYONE TO KEEP YOUR COMMENTS TO TWO MINUTES BECAUSE WE HAVE 25 MORE MINUTES IN THIS PERIOD OF RESPECT AND TIME.
BUT COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MEDICINE, THEN WE'LL GO, HOW ABOUT I START ON THE RIGHT WORK MY WAY AFTER YOU STARTING WITH YOU FIRST.
AND THEN I'LL JUMP ON THIS SIDE.
UM, I HAVE TWO, UH, RELATED QUESTIONS AND THAT JUST HAS TO DO WITH WHAT, UH, WHAT YOU ANTICIPATE BRINGING TO IN THE SPRING TO THE EXTENT THAT, YOU KNOW, SO THE FIRST QUESTION IS THE SCOPE OF IT.
IN OTHER WORDS, ARE YOU LOOKING AT, UH, TIMELINE FOR ALL OF THE PROJECTS, INCLUDING THOSE, LIKE THE GREEN LINE, THE EXTENSION TO THE NORTH ON CONGRESS, THE EXTENSION, OR NORTH LAMORE, SORRY, THE EXTENSION TO THE SOUTH, UM, ON CONGRESS? SO THAT'S TIMELINE AND SCOPE TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU CAN TELL US IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU INTEND TO BRING BACK.
UM, SO I THINK THE FIRST STEP IS THAT WE'RE GONNA, YOU KNOW, COME TO THE COMMUNITY WITH, IS, IS THIS CRITERIA DISCUSSION, RIGHT? THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY, RIGHT? WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT, AGAIN, THIS IS NOT JUST A GUT DECISION, THAT WE'RE EVALUATING OPTIONS BASED ON CRITERIA THAT THE COMMUNITY BELIEVES ARE THE RIGHT ONES, RIGHT? SO THAT'S THE FIRST STEP, RIGHT? OKAY.
IS MAKING SURE THAT WE'VE GOT THE CRITERIA THE RIGHT WAY AND WE UNDERSTAND THE COMMUNITY'S PRIORITIES WITHIN THOSE CRITERIA.
I THINK WHEN WE START TO COME BACK WITH SPECIFICS ABOUT THE ALIGNMENT, IT'S REALLY GONNA BE FOCUSED ON THE LIGHT RAIL, RIGHT? BECAUSE THAT'S THE DECISION BEFORE US IS WHAT IS THE PHASING FOR THE LIGHT RAIL, LIGHT RAIL PORTION OF THE PROGRAM
[01:50:01]
LOOK LIKE? AND I THINK THERE WILL BE OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE TO DEBATE AND HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT, AND THERE WILL BE PROS AND CONS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH.SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA FRAME UP THOSE PROS AND CONS TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITIES SO PEOPLE CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND THEM.
UM, AND SO THAT WE CAN GET TO THE RIGHT DECISION.
LYNN, DO YOU HAVE A GENERAL IDEA OR, OR NOT ABOUT, IS THAT, I MEAN, IT'S MARCH, APRIL, MAY, I THINK.
I THINK THAT THE CRITERIA WILL BE IN THE FIRST PART OF LIKE, JANUARY, FEBRUARY.
AND THEN THE, AND THEN THE OPTIONS WILL BE SUBSEQUENT TO THAT.
SO MARCH TIMEFRAME, WE HAVE TO SEE, I MEAN, AGAIN, IT'S, I'M NOT ASKING YOU FOR A SPECIFIC DATE CUZ YOU'RE NOT GONNA KNOW.
I'M JUST ASKING IN, IN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE, SO TO SPEAK.
COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MEDICINE, THEN FOLLOWED BY MR. GARZA, MEMBER GARZA, THEN STRATTON AND ELLIS.
UHHUH, I'LL START MY COMMENTARY WITH A SHOUT OUT TO RANDY CLARK.
UH, WHEREVER YOU ARE, I'M GONNA USE THE TERM THAT I LEARNED FROM YOU, FUTURE PROOFING OF THING.
UM, SOMETHING THAT I'M HESITANT TO SAY BECAUSE I THINK GENERALLY ALL OF THE CONVERSATIONS ARE PRETTY HEAVY WITH ABSENCE, ABSENCE OF THINGS THAT WE'RE NOT DISCUSSING BECAUSE THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, THEY KNOW THE BAD NEWS ALREADY, BUT THEY HAVEN'T DELIVERED IT TO THE PEOPLE WHO NEED TO KNOW SO THAT THEY CAN PLAN APPROPRIATELY CUZ THEY HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THE LAYERS OF, YOU KNOW, CURATING THE CONVERSATION BEFORE YOU BRING IT TO THE AUDIENCE.
UM, SO I'M CERTAINLY NOT BEARING ANY BAD NEWS TODAY, BUT I DO WANT THE FOLKS IN THE ROOM TO ACKNOWLEDGE AN ABSENCE OF A CONVERSATION ABOUT REGIONAL PLANNING.
UM, I KNOW FOR A FACT I HAVE DISTRICT ONE RESIDENTS WHO WILL SOON BE NEATER WALLED RESIDENCE, HARKER HEIGHTS, HAYES COUNTY, FAST DROP COUNTY, TAYLOR, TYLER, Y'ALL KNOW WHAT I'M GETTING AT.
IF THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE IN AUSTIN, BUT THEY STILL WORK IN AUSTIN, HOW DO THEY GET BACK TO AUSTIN? IF I MAY JUMP IN ON THAT ONE? UM, THAT IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT CAPITAL METRO IS WORKING ON IN A CONVERSATION WE HAVE HAD, UM, WITH OUR BOARD, UM, IN RECENT MONTHS.
SO AS THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, WE DON'T SERVE ALL OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT METRO YOU JUST MENTIONED, BUT WE DO SERVE, UM, AN AREA THAT IS MUCH GREATER THAN THE SIZE OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND WE HAVE A PROCESS FOR, FOR EVEN NON-MEMBER AREAS TO PARTICIPATE IN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND EVEN POTENTIALLY THE PURCHASING OF SERVICES IF, IF THAT WORKS OUT FOR THEM.
UM, SO ANYONE WITHIN THE URBAN, ANYONE WITHIN THE URBANIZED AREA, UM, IS, IS BEING ENGAGED BY CAP METRO RIGHT NOW SO THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE LARGER REGIONAL QUESTION AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT DO WE DO IN THE CORE OF THIS CITY WITH LIGHT RAIL.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT WE CAN WALK IN CHEW GUM IN THIS REGION.
AND, AND FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, IT'S NOT EVEN JUST THOSE PEOPLE THAT ALREADY LIVE THERE.
I'M TALKING ABOUT, I'M TALKING ABOUT FOLKS WHO AREN'T SIX MONTHS IN ARREARS YET, BUT THEY WILL BE UNNECESSARILY CUZ WE DIDN'T TELL THEM, YOU GOTTA MOVE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO MOVE.
LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO LIVE HERE IN SIX MONTHS.
THAT'S A REALLY HARD CONVERSATION TO HAVE WITH SOMEBODY.
IT FEELS KIND OF DEFEATED STEVEN.
BUT IN A LOT OF WAYS REAL TALK CONVERSATIONS ARE HARD, BUT GIVEN PEOPLE THE REAL TRUTH OFFERS THEM THE OPPORTUNITY THAT WE SHOULD BE OFFERING THEM.
AND THAT IS THE CHANCE TO ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THAT SORT OF LINE OF, OF THINKING, I'M THINKING THROUGH TO YOUR POINT COMMISSIONER PAVILION ABOUT THE GREEN LINE AND ABOUT THE FOLKS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IN PRECINCT ONE, DISTRICT ONE, YOU KNOW, TRUE EAST AUSTIN, JUST THINKING HORNS BAY BEND IS IN AUSTIN, YET AUSTIN'S COLONY IS IN AUSTIN YET.
YOU KNOW, LIKE JUST THINKING BIG, REAL BIG PICTURE.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS ETJ AND THIS IS AUSTIN AND THE GREEN LINE GOES OVER HERE, BUT WHAT ABOUT THESE GUYS OVER HERE WHO DON'T VOTE IN AUSTIN, WHO DON'T YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M GETTING AT, RIGHT? I THINK JUST THE BIGGER PICTURE CONVERSATION, IF WE ARE THINKING ABOUT FUTURE PROOFING IT, ARE WE THINKING ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THOSE WHO WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CAPTURE WITHIN WHATEVER AMAZING EFFORTS WE'RE ABLE TO DEPLOY BY WAY OF OUR ANTIS DISPLACEMENT EFFORTS? SOME FOLKS WILL NOT GET CAPTURED IN THERE, IN WHICH CASE ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THEM FOR THE LONG TERM FUTURE FACING ITERATIONS THAT WE MAY NOT BE DOING THE WORK FOR TODAY, BUT WE SURE AS HECK SHOULD BE HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IT TODAY.
AND SO I JUST BRING THAT UP TO SAY, I, IT'S, IT'S ONE OF THE GAPS THAT I'VE OBSERVED IN TERMS OF I'M JUST LISTENING TO WHAT EVERYBODY'S SAYING.
MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, I THINK TO MY BENEFIT AND TO
[01:55:01]
MY CONSTITUENTS BENEFIT, I'M COMING INTO THE ROOM VERY MUCH LIKE A LAYPERSON.I'M LISTENING WITH LAYPERSON'S YEARS, YOU KNOW, AND THEN I GO AND DO THE RESEARCH AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DISSEMINATE THE INFORMATION TO FOLKS WHO EVEN WITH THEIR LAY PEOPLE'S EARS, I STILL KNOW JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THEY DO CUZ I'VE HAD THE CONTEXT.
UM, THAT SAID THOUGH, I JUST STILL FEEL LIKE SOMETHING'S MISSING.
THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN TWO MINUTES, BUT I THINK YOU'LL GET WHAT I'M SAYING AND, AND I'LL JUST, UM, BRING US BACK TO, YOU KNOW, THE OLDEN DAYS PROJECT CONNECT AS IT EXISTS TODAY.
IT'S, IT'S ORIGINS, ITS ROOT WAS A REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION VISION, UM, THAT SAID, HERE'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO FOR THE REGION.
AND IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW WE DO THAT.
IF WE BRING ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE INTO THE CORE OF A CITY THAT'S NOT READY TO SUPPORT THEM WITH, WITH MOBILITY OPTIONS, THEN WE'RE, WE WILL NOT BE SUCCESSFUL.
SO WHERE WE ARE TODAY, STARTED WITH THE REGIONAL VISIONING PROCESS AND WE'LL, WE'LL CONTINUE TO, UM, TO BE REGIONAL.
YOU'RE SITTING NEXT TO CAPITAL METRO SMALL CITIES REP ON OUR BOARD, AND I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT SHE'S KEEPING THIS INFORMATION, UH, VERY FRONT AND CENTER IN OUR CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND, AND, UH, JUST TO PIGGYBACK ON THAT, WE'VE BEEN TESTED ON THAT A COUPLE OF TIMES WITH WITHIN THE LAST SIX MONTHS.
I MEAN, UH, AT THE END OF THE DAY, PEOPLE WERE TOLD THAT 180 PEOPLE WERE BEING IMPACTED BY TRANSIT.
WELL, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE RECEIPTS, THE 3000 SOMETHING PEOPLE THAT COME OUT AND USE THE SERVICE CAME OUT AND SAID, NO, WE WANT PUBLIC TRANSIT AND WE WANT IT HERE.
80% OF THE FOLK THAT VOTED VOTED FOR TRANSIT.
SO THE, AND THAT CAME FROM A TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN FROM TRAVIS COUNTY FIRST.
UH, WE WORKED WITH, WITH CENTRAL HEALTH, UH, GOING OUT TO WEBER DID NOT GET THE PARTICIPATION THAT WE EXPECTED, SO WE MOVED IT OVER TO MAYNOR AND HAVE RECEIVED THE PARTICIPATION THAT WE'VE EXPECTED.
AND SO THE, SO THE QUESTION BECOMES, ARE WE ASKING, UH, THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT PLACES WHO WANT TO SUPPORT IT? ARE WE WORKING WITH OUR CAPITAL AREA REGIONAL AUTHORITY? WHAT ARE WE DOING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE NEEDS, BUT ALSO, UH, AREAS THAT HAVE THE CAPACITY TO BE GRANTED THEIR PARTICIPATION POSSIBLE? WE'VE GOTTA ASK ALL THOSE QUESTIONS HERE.
THANK YOU AND CONGRATULATIONS ON THAT REFERENDUM THAT PASSED IN MAYER AND ALSO LEANDER.
I MEAN, THOSE WERE GOOD INITIATIVES THAT REGIONALLY CONTINUED TO SUPPORT TRANSIT BECAUSE YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MEDICINE MEMBER GARZA, I JUST WONDERED IF, UM, YOU WERE INCLUDING THE DISABLED COMMUNITY AND YOUR COMMUNITY OUTREACH OUTREACH? ABSOLUTELY, YES.
THEY'RE, THEY'RE DIRECTLY THE DIS THE COMMUNITY'S DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN ALL OF OUR, UM, ENGAGEMENT.
UH, WE HAVE INDIVIDUALS FROM THE CAC WHO ARE SO MOBILITY, UH, VISION, UH, HEARING.
UM, AS THE WILLIAMSON COUNTY REPRESENTATIVE TO CAP METRO, I WANTED TO, UH, IN SOME WAYS ECHO, UH, COUNCIL, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON'S, UH, CONCERNS AND VIEWS TOO, UH, ABOUT, ABOUT DISPLACEMENT AND ABOUT HAVING A REGIONAL, UH, REGIONAL VIEW OF THINGS AS WELL.
BEFORE I GET INTO TO SOME QUESTIONS I HAD, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ACTUALLY DID AS A CAP METRO BOARD WHEN WE WERE REVIEWING OUR STRATEGIC PLAN WAS SPECIFICALLY PUT A FOCUS ON AND ADD ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE TO OUR STRATEGIC PLAN TO HELP ADDRESSED REGIONALISM BY CAP METRO SO THAT WE WOULD TAKE A MORE REGIONAL APPROACH TO THE TRANSIT TO, TO OUR TRANSIT NETWORK AND TRANSIT NEEDS.
AND, AND THAT'S WHAT I THINK YOU'D BE, YOU'RE SEEING RIGHT NOW.
AND, AND YES, I I I, I'D BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T SAY, UH, THANK YOU TO THE RESIDENTS IN, UH, IN, UM, IN MAYNOR, IN LEANDER AND IN LAGO VISTA.
ALAGO VISTA WAS THE THIRD ONE THAT HAD IT ON THE BALLOT, UH, JUST RECENTLY HERE.
AND ALL THREE, UM, CAME BACK AND SAID, UH, YES, WE WANT TO CONTINUE SERVICES, UH, WITH CAP METRO AND, AND BE TRANSIT PARTNERS.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS, UH, ASSOCIATED WITH THAT CAP METRO HAS, HAS PROGRAMS WHERE WE ARE INVESTING BACK INTO THOSE COMMUNITIES, HELPING THEM TO BUILD OUT, UH, TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT AND TO INVEST MONIES WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITIES TO HELP THEM BUILD OUT, WHETHER IT'S IMPROVE SIDEWALKS, BIKE PATHS, UM, UH, PEDESTRIAN BEACONS, UH, DIFFERENT ASPECTS TO HELP IMPROVE TRANSIT, UH, DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITIES AS WELL.
CAP METRO IS A PARTNER IN THAT, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS, TO YOUR POINT, I THINK IS, IS IMPORTANT TOO, AND THAT, THAT THAT CHAIR PAVILION SAID, I,
[02:00:01]
I THINK THAT THIS IS, THAT THIS NEEDS TO BE PART OF A BIGGER PICTURE WHERE, WHERE WE ARE ALL PARTNERS WORKING THROUGH, THROUGH RESOURCES LIKE, LIKE, UH, LIKE CAMPO AND, AND TRYING TO MAKE THIS A MORE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP SO THAT WE CAN ADDRESS THESE ISSUES BECAUSE, UM, YES, I, I LIVE IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY.I'M IN THE AUSTIN PART OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY OUT NEAR LAKELINE STATION IN AVERY RANCH.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM WHERE I AM, I, I AM LIKE, YOU CAN'T GET ANY FURTHER NORTH.
AND, AND, AND MY, MY COUNCIL MEMBER MCKENZIE KELLY KNOWS THIS, YOU CAN'T GET ANY FURTHER NORTH THAN WHERE I AM WITHOUT CROSSING BRUSHY CREEK AND YOU'RE IN CEDAR PARK.
SO, AND MANY TIMES FOR MANY YEARS, UH, I'D DIAL THREE 11 AND THEY'D SAY, YOU'RE NOT IN AUSTIN.
AND I'D SAY, WELL THEN CAN I HAVE MY TAX DOLLARS BACK PLEASE? SO IT, IT IS A PROBLEM THAT THAT DOES HAVE TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED AND ADDRESSED IN TERMS OF, LET'S LOOK AT THIS REGIONALLY, BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO MOVED OUT AND ARE GOING TO AND MAY BE FINDING THEMSELVES HAVING TO MOVE OUT, BUT WE, THEIR JOBS ARE STILL DOWNTOWN.
THEY STILL WORK IN OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY AND WE GOTTA CONNECT THEM.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO AND WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT.
SO I APPRECIATE YOU ACKNOWLEDGING THAT.
AND I WANTED, WANTED YOU TO KNOW WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE THAT COMMITMENT AT THE CAP METRO LEVEL, AND I DO THINK THAT THAT, THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT AND WHAT, WHAT ATP'S COMMITMENT IS, WHAT I'VE SEEN AND, AND HAVING BEEN ON THE BOARD AND WHAT PROJECT CONNECT IS ABOUT IS TRYING TO, TO GET US THERE, WE GOTTA START SOMEWHERE.
UM, I, I DID WANT SAY, UH, I DID WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO, UH, TO AASE AND TO THE, THE, UH, COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, UM, BECAUSE I, I REALLY DO FEEL LIKE THAT Y'ALL HAVE BEEN A VERY VALUABLE PARTNER IN THIS PROCESS, UM, THROUGHOUT ADVISING AND HELPING, UM, THE, THE STAFF AT ATP AND ALSO, UM, THE, THE ATP BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
UM, IN ADDITION, WE AT CAP METRO, WE HAVE OTHER, UH, WE HAVE THE ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND THE, UH, THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND I WANT TO, TO JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THEM AS WELL BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN VALUABLE PARTNERS AS WELL PROVIDING, UH, FEEDBACK TO US ON TRANSIT LEVEL.
I KNOW THAT, THAT, THAT CITI HAS BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAT PROVIDE ACC THAT PROVIDE, UM, FEEDBACK, RESOLUTIONS, DIFFERENT, UH, INPUT ON DIFFERENT THINGS AS WELL THAT ARE EXTREMELY VALUABLE.
BUT I WANNA SPECIFICALLY JUST AS THE CAP METRO BOARD MEMBER HIGH AND FORMER ATP BOARD MEMBER, HIGHLIGHT THE WORK THAT THAT EVAS AND YOUR MEMBERS HAVE DONE.
AND THEN ALSO THE, THE, THE CAP METRO COMMITTEES TOO, BECAUSE IT, IT HAS BEEN EXTREMELY VALUABLE TO HAVE THAT FORMALIZED RESOURCE THAT WE CAN REACH OUT TO AND SAY, HEY, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? HOW CAN WE DO THIS? LET'S GET YOUR FEEDBACK ON THESE THINGS SO THAT WE KNOW THAT AND, AND THEN YOU GUYS HAVE ACCESS TO RESOURCES AS WELL THAT WE MAY NOT BE THINKING ABOUT.
UM, A QUESTION I DO HAVE FOR STAFF IS, I'M, I'M KIND OF NOODLING ON THIS AND THINKING ABOUT ALL THIS.
UM, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I HAVE, I REALIZE THAT WE'RE KIND OF GOING OFF, WE'RE, WE'RE HAVING, BASED ON BUDGETARY FORCES, MANY THINGS OUT OF OUR CONTROL, INFLATION, SUPPLY CHAIN, LABOR MARKETS, C TAKE YOUR PICK, UM, EVEN FOR THAT MATTER, UM, PUBLIC PUBLIC FEEDBACK AS TO WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.
THIS PROJECT THAT'S GOT US WHERE WE ARE NOW, ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT FACTORS ARE NOW, YOU KNOW, MOVING UP THE PRICE TAG ON THIS THING, WHICH IS KIND OF GOT US WHERE WE ARE NOW.
BUT, BUT HERE'S, I GUESS FUNDAMENTALLY A BASIC QUESTION I HAVE AS I'VE BEEN WATCHING THAT WAS WATCHING YOUR PRESENTATION.
IF WE WEREN'T IN THE POSITION WE'RE IN, WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW, UM, IF WE HAD BEEN ON THE SAME TIMELINE WITH THE SAME EXPECTATIONS IN THE SAME DYNAMICS THAT WE ORIGINALLY BEGAN BACK WHEN WE, THE, THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS AND PROP A IN NOVEMBER OF 2020, SO JUST TWO YEARS AGO, UM, WHAT WOULD THIS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS BE LOOKING LIKE RIGHT NOW? WOULD IT BE THE SAME THING THAT YOU ALL HAVE JUST LAID OUT AND ARE TALKING ABOUT? BECAUSE I GUESS WHAT I'M GETTING AT IS, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT BY NOW, UNDER THE OLD PLAN TWO YEARS AGO, WE'D ALL BE SITTING AROUND HERE RAISING OUR HANDS, VOTING I, AND YOU KNOW, PUTTING A SEAL OF APPROVAL ON THIS PLAN AND SENDING IT OFF TO, YOU KNOW, TO, TO THE FTA IN DC.
SO I'M JUST WONDERING, WOULD THIS, THE, WHAT YOU'VE JUST LAID OUT NOW, HOW FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT IS THIS ENGAGEMENT PROCESS YOU PERCEIVE COMPARED TO WHERE IT, I KNOW IT'S KIND OF DEALING WITH THE, THE, THE COULDA SHOULD OF WOULD IS, BUT HOW, HOW FUNDAMENTALLY WOULD THIS LOOK DIFFERENT HAD THINGS NOT HAD TO CHANGE? I WAS SAY IT'S A REALLY DIFFICULT QUESTION TO ANSWER, TO BE QUITE HONEST.
UM, I, THE WAY THAT I WOULD APPROACH IT IS TO SAY THAT I DON'T THINK WE WOULD'VE TAKEN ANY DIFFERENT STEPS IN EVALUATING HOW WE WERE DOING COMMUNICATION, WHO WE WERE REACHING, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE
[02:05:01]
CONTINUALLY GROWING IN THAT SPACE.THE CONTENT OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS WOULD BE DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU WERE WITH THE PROJECT ITSELF.
AND SO THAT'S THE APPLES VERSUS ORANGES SCENARIO.
SO I WOULD STILL SAY, UM, WE WOULD NEED THAT STEP OF EVALUATION.
WE ALWAYS NEED TO BE LOOKING BACK TO SEE WHO WE'RE NOT REACHING, HOW WE'RE NOT REACHING, TRYING TO DETERMINE WHERE THEN IT FITS INTO THE PROCESS IN THAT MOMENT.
AND THEN HOW TO ENGAGE AS WE GO FORWARD.
SO ALWAYS FORWARD LOOKING IN THAT EQUITY VIEW OF, OF, IF NOT IN THIS, LOOKING AT THAT BACKWARDS WORLD, RIGHT? IF, IF THE CONVERSATIONS ARE TOO LATE FOR CERTAIN DISCUSSIONS, BUT WE CAN BUILD IT INTO THE NEXT PHASE, HOW DO WE DO THAT AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? UM, SO IT'S A CHALLENGING KIND OF ACADEMIC, UH, CONVERSATION TO HAVE AND I WELCOME OTHERS TO, TO FEED INTO THAT.
YEAH, SO I'LL ADD A LITTLE BIT TO THAT.
SO, UH, OR IF WE WERE JUST MAINTAINING OUR PATH, WE WOULD BE IN THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENT TO IMPACT STATEMENT REVIEW, CIRCULATION ASPECT OF THE PROGRAM, WHICH IS VERY PRESCRIBED, BUT DOES HAVE A COMMUNITY, UM, PART ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
I THINK WE WOULD BE HAVING THE SAME CONVERSATION WE'RE HAVING RIGHT NOW AFTER THAT COMMUNITY PROCESS, CUZ WE STILL WOULD HAVE THE SAME ISSUES.
WE WOULD STILL HAVE THE SAME COST ISSUES.
HOW ARE WE GONNA PHASE IT? HOW ARE WE GONNA WORK THROUGH IT? SO INSTEAD OF GOING OUT TO THAT PROCESS NOW WE'VE BROUGHT THAT PROCESS BACK INTO IT BEFORE WE GO BACK OUT AND HAVE THAT CONVERSATION.
SO WE HAVE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS AS OPPOSED TO JUST GETTING THEM THROUGH THE PUBLIC AND HAVING TO GO BACK AND RESPOND TO 'EM.
WE'RE TRYING TO BE PROACTIVE IN THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW VERSUS WHERE I THINK WE WOULD'VE BEEN IF WE WOULD'VE JUST CONTINUED DOWN THE ROAD WE WERE HEADING DOWN.
SO, I DUNNO IF THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION.
SO BASICALLY WHAT YOU ALL HAVE LAID OUT AND, AND, AND SPENT, SPENT, UM, WHAT, WHAT APPEARS TO BE A VERY THOROUGH AND THOUGHTFUL PROCESS IN PUTTING INTO AND LAYING OUT AND DEVELOPING WHAT YOU'RE GONNA DO.
BASICALLY, YOU WERE STILL, YOU, THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IN SOME FORM, FASHION OR ANOTHER, BUT WHERE FROM BRIAN, WHAT YOU'RE SAYING WE'RE, WE'RE KIND OF FRONTLOADING IT NOW BECAUSE FUNDAMENTALLY THE PROJECT, I, I GUESS FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM, I'LL JUST CALL A SPADE TO SP WE, WE HAVE THE, THE, THE SCOPE AND THE SEQUENCING.
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS THING IS NOW UP FOR GRABS.
AGAIN, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES.
I MEAN, WE'RE HAVING TO RE I MEAN, YOU GUYS, I, I SAW, I SAW THE, THE, YOU KNOW, SAW IT IN IN THE MEDIA IN THE, THE PRESENTATION FOR THE LAST ATP BOARD MEETING AND YOU JUST SAID IT TOO.
YOU'RE NOW LOOKING AT POTENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, LET, YOU KNOW, CUTTING DOWN ON THE TUNNEL MORE AT GRADE, MAYBE ELEVATING IN SOME PLACES.
I MEAN, WE NEVER THOUGHT WE'D BE TALKING ABOUT THOSE KINDS OF THINGS, YOU KNOW, TWO YEARS AGO.
SO AT THIS POINT, BASICALLY WE'RE HAVING TO GO BACK OUT AND SAY, LET'S, LET'S GET ALL OF THIS FEEDBACK FROM ANY SOURCE, ANY WAY WE CAN KIND OF SEE WHERE THE PUBLIC THINKS ABOUT MOVING THIS IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.
BUT, BUT MORE TO MIC MORE AT A MACRO LEVEL THAN KIND OF A MA A MICRO LEVEL OF, HEY, WHAT, WHAT COLOR MURAL DO YOU WANT ON THIS WALL? OR, YOU KNOW, DO YOU WANT, DO YOU WANT STUCCO TILE OR YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT KIND OF THING.
YEAH, I WOULD, I WOULD JUST SAY IT'S BEING TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROGRAM, WHAT THE CURRENT EVENTS ARE OF, OF, YOU KNOW, VERY LARGE GENERATIONAL CHANGING TRANSPORTATION ELEMENTS THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO HERE IN AUSTIN.
AND JUST BEING PROACTIVE AND HAVING THAT CONVERSATION NOW VERSUS AT THE BACK END WHERE WE WOULD'VE HAD A CONVERSATION, I FEEL REACTING TO IT VERSUS TRYING TO BE PROACTIVE TO IT.
SO, AND, AND THEN TO, TO DOVETAIL ON COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN'S QUESTION THEN, DO Y'ALL FEEL THAT YOU CAN HAVE THIS PART OF THE PROCESS COMPLETED THEN BY, UM, EARLY NEXT YEAR BY LIKE FEBRUARY-ISH SAY FROM WHAT YOU WERE SAYING, PETER? NO, I, I DON'T THINK THE PROCESS IS COMPLETED BY THEN.
I, I THINK THAT WE'RE, WE AREN'T GONNA BE COMING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY WITH THE RESULTS OF ALL THIS ANALYSIS SOMETIME AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SPRING, RIGHT? SO THAT WE CAN COLLECTIVELY REACH A DECISION ABOUT HOW WE MOVE THE PROGRAM FORWARD, OUR PROGRAM FORWARD.
SO NO, NO, NO, NO ANSWERS, NO DEFINITIVE ANSWERS THAT SOON.
AND AGAIN, PARTLY BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO TAKE A COMMUNITY BASED APPROACH TO THIS, RIGHT? OKAY.
PRESENT DATA, HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT IT, GET QUESTIONS, IT MAY FORCE US TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT SOME OTHER THINGS, RIGHT? SO THAT WE CAN, WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BEING AS THOROUGH AND METHODICAL AS POSSIBLE.
AND I KNOW MR. CANALI HAD A COMMENT.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO ROOT EVERYONE IN, IN WHERE WE ARE, RIGHT? WE DID HAVE A VOTE, WE HAD A PROGRAM, WE'VE ADVANCED THAT PROGRAM LIGHT AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL IS A BIG PIECE OF THAT.
UM, WE WILL BE ADVANCING LIGHT RAIL FOR AUSTIN.
WE HAVE A VERY SIGNIFICANT AND HEFTY BUDGET TO DO THAT.
WE'RE IN A WORLD BECAUSE OF THE BUDGET CONSTRAINTS THAT WE ARE FACING.
[02:10:01]
LOOK AT PHASING THOSE.UM, SO WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT EVERYTHING ON THE TABLE.
WE'VE DONE AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF WORK IN THESE FIRST TWO YEARS.
THIS EFFORT WE'RE GOING ON NOW IS LOOKING AT THINGS, SOME THINGS WE HADN'T LOOKED AT, BUT OTHER THINGS, LOOKING AT WAYS THAT WE COULD, UM, OPTIMIZE THAT SO THAT WE CAN COME BACK AND HOW WE ARE GONNA PHASE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LIGHT RAIL.
NOT WHETHER WE'RE DOING IT OR NOT.
WE HAVE TO COME BACK AND MAKE SOME INFORMED, RIGOROUS DECISIONS ABOUT THAT.
WE WANTED TO SPEND THIS TIME TODAY SHOWING YOU OUR WORK, RIGHT? I, I THINK I'VE TOLD SOMEONE THIS BEFORE, MY PHYSICS TEACHER IN HIGH SCHOOL USED TO TELL US BEFORE YOU DO THE PHYSICS, I MEAN BEFORE YOU DO THE MATH, DO THE PHYSICS.
AND WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING SO THAT WE CAN COME BACK AND HAVE A VERY ROBUST DISCUSSION WITH YOU.
WE HAVE A GREAT BUDGET AND WE'RE ABLE TO ADVANCE THAT.
AND WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE AREAS THAT WE CAN COME BACK AND ACHIEVE OUR CRITERIA.
I THINK PETER SAID IT VERY WELL.
THIS IS ABOUT RE-VALIDATING SOME OF THE CRITERIA WE'VE BEEN THROUGH.
JEN TALKED ABOUT ALL THE PLANNING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH.
WE'VE TALKED TO SOME OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
FOLKS AREN'T LOOKING US TO GO BACK AND SAY, WHAT DO WE WANT? WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT.
AUSTIN HAS DECIDED TO INVEST IN TRANSIT.
WE ARE IN THE PROCESS THAT OTHER COMMUNITIES IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE GONE THROUGH.
UM, IN MAKING SURE THAT YOU GET IT RIGHT, YOU DO THAT, THAT, THAT KIND OF, THAT CHECKING ON IT.
WE ALSO KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING IS THE RIGHT TIME TO DO THIS.
WE SAT IN JULY WITH EXPERTISE.
WE'VE TALKED TO THE FEDERAL TRANSIT.
THEY WANT US TO DO THIS WORK NOW, NOT LATER.
YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ONCE YOU START DIGGING THIS EXTRA, THIS EXTRA MINUTES OF PLANNING WORK IS GONNA BE VALUABLE FOR, FOR YOU AS, UH, OFFICIALS, BUT ALSO FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, SO WE FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT OUR PATH FORWARD.
WE NEED A LITTLE MORE TIME TO FINISH THIS WORK TO COME UP WITH US OPTIONS AND BE BACK HERE BEFORE, YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE BACK IN FRONT OF THIS GROUP HERE IN SPRING TO KEEP ADVANCING THE WORK.
UH, THIS IS GONNA BE KIND OF IN THAT SAME VEIN, BUT WHAT CAN WE DO AS OFFICIALS TO BE HELPFUL IN THE OUTREACH? WE'RE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP.
I KNOW CAT METRO HAS A GREAT REPUTATION FOR PUBLIC INPUT ALREADY, BUT I JUST CAN'T HELP BUT THINK ABOUT SOME OF MY CONSTITUENTS WHO ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR MOBILE HOMES ALONG WHAT SHOULD BE A METRO RAPID TO O HILL.
AND IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT AS HIGH SCORING FOR FEDERAL GRANTS BECAUSE OF THE LAND USE.
AND OBVIOUSLY THAT'S ON THE CITY COUNCIL SIDE.
BUT WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP REACH THE POPULATIONS WHO ARE NOT UP TO SPEED AND PROBABLY HAVE SEEN PROJECT CONNECT IN THE NEWSPAPER FOR SO MANY YEARS NOW? THEY PROB YOU KNOW, THEY'RE EITHER READING IT ALL OR THEY'RE NOT READING ANY OF IT.
HOW DO WE REACH THOSE PEOPLE AND HOW CAN WE BE HELPFUL? I WOULD SAY STAY TUNED FOR THAT BECAUSE NOW I, WE WILL BE COMING TO, UM, WORK WITH YOU ON A STRATEGY OF HOW WE CAN DO THAT OUTREACH MORE EFFECTIVELY.
HOW WE CAN COORDINATE BETWEEN OUR PARTNERS TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE ALSO NOT, UM, OVER ENGAGING IN CERTAIN AREAS WITH VARIOUS DIFFERENT, UH, OPPORTUNITIES.
AND SO I WOULD SAY STAY TUNED.
I, I DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT.
AND SO, UM, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ALSO ARE GETTING STARTED NOW AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO BRING PEOPLE UP TO SPEED.
CUZ I WOULD HATE FOR THAT WINDOW TO OPEN AND ALL OF A SUDDEN PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY OR THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND ENOUGH ABOUT IT TO, TO WEIGH IN APPROPRIATELY.
SO I REALLY WANNA HELP U I WANT US TO BE PART OF THE, THE SOLUTION TO HELP BE PROACTIVE ABOUT GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT TO THEM.
AND OUR GOAL IS, UM, THERE ARE MULTIPLE GOALS THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS ONE, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT ABOUT WHAT PROJECT CONNECT IS BECAUSE ENSURING THAT ALL COMMUNITIES UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING AND WHERE WE ARE.
AND THAT'S CAPACITY BUILDING WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION AS WE KEEP GOING.
THAT'S WHERE WE ARE IN THIS MOMENT.
WE'RE BUILDING OUT THE STRATEGY OF HOW WE DO THAT SO THEN WE CAN EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE AND IMPLEMENT VERY QUICKLY.
UM, I'M GOING TO MAYOR ALER THEN MR. COOPER, AND THEN, UM, MS. POOL.
FIRST, I WANNA SAY IT'S EXCITING TO GO TO THESE MEETINGS BECAUSE QUITE FRANKLY, UH, PROJECT CONNECT GETS MORE REAL ALL THE TIME.
UH, AS WE ACTUALLY GET INTO THE TRENCHES AND START SOLVING THE, THE REAL NITTY GRITTY QUESTIONS.
UH, IT JUST, IT IT'S EXCITING AS IT'S BECOMING MORE REAL AS OF A, OF A VISION AND A DREAM AND MORE OF WHAT IS THE, UH, REALITY.
AND JUST TO, TO TOUCH ON, I THINK WHAT GREG SAID, WHICH I THINK IS REAL IMPORTANT WITH RESPECT TO THE CRITERIA, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF CRITERIA THAT THE COMMUNITY'S GONNA HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT'S IMPORTANT AND WHAT'S NOT IMPORTANT AND HOW THEY PRIORITIZE THINGS.
BUT THERE ARE TWO CRITERIA THAT THIS COMMUNITY VOTED ON INSISTED UPON.
AND THAT MY UNDERSTANDING IS ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE CUZ THEY ARE OUR BASE CRITERIA.
AND THAT IS THAT THE COMMUNITY EXPECTS TO HAVE A MASS PUBLIC TRANSIT
[02:15:01]
SYSTEM DELIVERED, UH, THAT, THAT INCLUDES RAIL, UH, THAT HAS REACH, THAT HAS ACCESS TO, UH, ALL PARTS OF OUR COMMUNITY.UH, AND, AND WE EXPECT THAT TO HAVE A PLAN THAT THAT DELIVERS ON THAT.
AND WE EXPECT THAT PLAN TO BE DELIVERED FOR WHAT THE COMMUNITY VOTED TO INVEST, UH, IN TERMS OF THE DEDICATED TAX.
AND I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYBODY SUGGEST THAT WE'RE MOVING OFF THOSE CRITERIA, AND I JUST THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE HOW THAT ACTUALLY PLAYS OUT OVER WHAT TIME AND IN WHAT WAY.
UM, QUITE FRANKLY, THERE'S NO WAY THAT WE COULD HAVE KNOWN THE ANSWER TO ALL THE QUESTIONS WHEN WE STARTED OR WE WOULD'VE SAVED 30 MILLION.
UH, BUT YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS TO, TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THINGS COST AND WHAT THE WORLD OF THE, THE POSSIBLE IS AND THE WORLD OR WHAT'S WHAT IMAGINABLE IS AND WHAT WE CAN, IN FACT, THE LIVER.
AND I AM ENCOURAGED WHEN I LOOK AROUND THE COUNTRY AT SO MANY PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING KILLED AROUND THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE, UH, COST OF LABOR AND MATERIALS AND LAND THAT OUR CITY AND OUR COUNTY IS OUR SERVICE AREAS, NOT AMONG THOSE REGIONS, UH, BECAUSE OF THE WAY WE DID THIS, WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO IN FACT DELIVER ON THAT, THAT BASE CORE CRITERIA THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS SET.
I WANNA TOUCH BASE ON JUST ONE ASPECT OF THIS AND, UH, AND, AND I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS WITH THE EXPERT TEAM.
WE HAVE, NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE PHENOMENAL STAFF WITH ATP AND THE CITY AND, AND, AND CAP METRO, BUT IT CONCERNS THIS LAST CONVERSATION.
I ALSO AM JUST REAL IMPRESSED WITH THE CONSULTING TEAM THAT WE HAVE BROUGHT IN WITH, WITH BRIAN AND JAN AND, AND THE PEOPLE THAT ARE WORKING THERE.
I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYBODY IN THE COUNTRY THAT IS MORE TIED TO AND ATTUNED TO, UH, WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL.
AND, AND TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT EXPERTISE WITH US ON THESE KINDS OF PROJECTS AND THIS SCALE IS SOMETHING THAT'S, UH, THAT'S REAL REASSURING.
MY ONE SUGGESTION IS, AND IT'S PROBABLY ALREADY IN YOUR, IN YOUR LIST ANYHOW, BUT MAYBE JUST NOT APPARENT, IS IT JUMPS OUT ON PAGE 35 WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE CRITERIA.
WE TALK ABOUT COMPETITIVENESS FOR FDA GRANT, UH, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO.
AND AS YOU'RE EVALUATING WHAT WE CAN DO AND WHAT THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS ARE, OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE, YOU'RE FIGURING OUT WHAT WE CAN DO WITHIN THAT TAX TREATMENT.
BUT THERE'S ANOTHER BLOCK THAT I WOULD PUT ON THAT AND, AND, AND THAT SOMETHING'S KIND OF LIKE FUNDING INNOVATION BECAUSE I THINK THAT WE KNOW REALLY, REALLY WELL AND YOU HAVE PHENOMENAL EXPERTISE ON HOW THESE PROJECTS AND THESE GRANT PROGRAMS HAVE WORKED OVER TIME.
BUT WHAT I KEEP HEARING FROM WASHINGTON IS THAT WE HAVE SUPPORTERS OF THIS CITY THERE THAT, THAT ARE WILLING TO BE AND ARE READY TO BE AND WANT TO BE REALLY CREATIVE AND OUTSIDE THE BOX TO SEE IF THERE ARE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES THAT, THAT MAYBE HAVE NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED BEFORE.
SO THERE IS NO CRITERIA OR EXPERIENTIAL BASE TO GO TO TO SAY, HOW HAS THIS HAPPENED IN THE PAST, UH, WHERE THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY PERHAPS TO BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING THAT IS ENTIRELY NEW AND DIFFERENT.
AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T MISS THAT OPPORTUNITY IF IT EXISTS.
AND IT PROBABLY INCLUDES US TAKING A LOOK AT THAT ASPECT, WHAT WE'RE DOING BEYOND PROJECT CONNECT, UH, TAKING A LOOK AT THE FACT THAT WE'RE ALSO DOUBLING THE SIZE OF OUR AIRPORT.
THAT, THAT WE'RE ALSO LOOKING FOR A BILLION DOLLARS TO BE ABLE TO, TO DELIVER AN I 35, UM, UH, PROJECT THAT ACTUALLY DELIVERS FOR THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT.
UH, I THINK THAT IN THAT SCALE OF MOBILITY PROJECTS THAT THIS CITY IS NOW DEALING WITH, AND MADAM CHAIR, I THINK THAT GOES BACK TO THE QUESTION, THE STATEMENT YOU MADE EARLIER.
I DO BELIEVE THIS IS THE GOLDEN AGE OF MOBILITY.
AND WITH THAT SCALE, IF YOU DON'T LOOK AT JUST PROJECT CONNECT, BUT WHAT, WHAT ARE THE CROSS COLLATERALIZATION OPPORTUNITIES OR THE CROSS FINANCE OPPORTUNITIES BY HAVING PROJECTS WHICH ARE ACTUALLY THREE TIMES THE SIZE OF PROJECT CONNECT OR TWICE THE SIZE OUR PROJECT CONNECT, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO FASHION SOMETHING NEW.
UH, AND I THINK THAT EXISTS AND I HOPE THAT WE EXPLORE THAT, UH, BECAUSE, UH, I THINK THAT MIGHT PRESENT TO US DIFFERENT OPTIONS AND EVALUATIONS ON THE CRITERIA THAT WE OTHERWISE SEE BASED ON WHAT WE, WHAT WE KNOW.
I WANT US TO FIND OUT WHAT WE DON'T KNOW.
UM, AND I KNOW MR. COOPER CHAIR, UH, COOPER, I STILL CALL YOU CHAIR COOPER
UM, YOU, YOU HAD YOUR HAND UP
AND THEN, UH, AND THEN WE HAD COUNCIL OO AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBERAL MAYOR.
[02:20:01]
BUT LET ME MAKE A, A COMMENT AND THEN A SUGGESTION.THE COMMENT IS THIS, WE'VE WE'RE IN A VERY DIFFERENT SPOT THAN WE THOUGHT WE WOULD BE TWO YEARS AGO.
UH, WE COLLECTIVELY, CAT METRO AND CITY OF AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL, UH, SAID WE WANTED TO HAVE A SPECIFIC SET OF PROJECTS DONE IN A SPECIFIC SEQUENCE OF EVENTS.
AND THE WORLD HAS CHANGED VERY DRAMATICALLY SINCE TWO YEARS AGO, BUT WE HAD 10 MEETINGS LEADING UP TO THAT.
I THINK 10 OR 11 JOINT MEETINGS LEADING UP TO THE DECISIONS THAT WE MADE NOW.
PRESUMABLY RIDERSHIP MODELS WOULD CHANGE.
CERTAINLY THEY'VE CHANGED IN THE DAY TO DAY OPERATION OF THE LAW FIRM THAT I'M WITH.
COMMUTE PATTERNS HAVE CHANGED.
WHEN WE CREATED ATP, WE SAID THE CORPORATION, UH, WILL IMPLEMENT PROJECT CONNECT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INITIAL INVESTMENT MAP AND ASSOCIATED IMPLEMENTATION SEQUENCE PLAN.
WE'RE NOT CREATE, WE'RE NOT ON THE INITIAL SEQUENCE PLAN.
I DON'T THINK ANY OF US BELIEVE WE'RE GONNA BUILD THE INITIAL SET OF PROJECTS IN THAT SEQUENCE THAT WE, UM, ORIGINALLY CONTEMPLATED.
WE HAVE A LOT TO LEARN ABOUT NEW ESTIMATES OF RIDERSHIP, NEW COSTS.
UM, I I THINK TO PUT A A, A RIBBON AROUND MY, A LOT OF THOUGHTS, WE HAVE A LOT MORE WORK TO DO THAN I THINK WE WILL SOLVE IN ONE MEETING IN THE SPRING TO TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS PROJECT IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
UH, WE SPENT 10 MEETINGS COMING TO THE CONCLUSIONS THAT WE DID BEFORE WE PUT A PROPOSAL IN FRONT OF THE, UH, BEFORE OUR VOTERS.
I DON'T THINK IT'S A GIVEN THAT WE WOULD DO LIGHT RAIL.
WE MIGHT DECIDE TO DO A TUNNEL AND DO BUSES AS WASHINGTON DID.
REMEMBER THIS PROJECT STARTED WITH CONVERSATIONS AROUND BUSES AND WAS DRIVEN TO LIGHT RAIL BY RIDERSHIP MODELS.
NOT BECAUSE WE JUST DECIDED WE WANTED TO DO A LIGHT RAIL.
CERTAINLY THE PUBLIC EMBRACED BOTH TUNNELS AND LIGHT RAIL, BUT WE'VE GOT HOMEWORK TO DO.
WE HAVE A MODEL WITH ATP THAT CONTEMPLATES IN ITS INCORPORATION DOCUMENTS, UH, BUILDING A PRIOR VERSION OF PROJECT CONNECT THAT IS NO LONGER RELEVANT PERHAPS TODAY, OR AT LEAST IT'S GONNA BE DRAMATICALLY CHANGED.
I THINK OUR RESPECTIVE, UM, STAFF NEED TO SPEND SOME TIME THINKING ABOUT HOW WE DO MORE, UH, IN THE MONTHS AHEAD COLLECTIVELY AND AS A CITY AND AS CAP METRO IN PARTICULAR, THINKING ABOUT WHAT, WHAT THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS NEEDS TO BE BEFORE WE MAKE THESE THESE SORTS OF CHANGES.
I DON'T THINK WE CAN DO IT IN ONE MEETING IN THE, UH, SPRINGTIME.
SO THE, THE REQUEST I HAVE IS THAT OUR STAFF SPEND SOME TIME THINKING ABOUT HOW WE WALK DOWN THIS PATH AS WE DID BEFORE, BECAUSE I THINK WE HAVE AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF WORK TO DO.
AND I, I THINK WE WE'RE SORT OF WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD TO THINK WE CAN, UH, JUST DO THIS IN ONE MEETING IN THE SPRINGTIME.
I THINK WE HAVE A LOT MORE WORK TO DO HERE.
WOULD THAT, UH, YIELD? THANK YOU.
DOES ANYBODY WANNA RESPOND TO THIS OR SHOULD I MOVE ON BEFORE I MOVE ON TO YOU? COUNCIL MEMBER? I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER POOL HAD HER HAND UP AND THEN I'LL, AND THEN YOU MM-HMM.
SO MY ORIGINAL COMMENT WAS GOING TO BE ENDORSED THE, THE STATEMENTS THAT WERE MADE ABOUT TAKING THE TIME NECESSARY TO REVIEW THE CHANGING, UH, ENVIRONMENT THAT WE'RE WORKING IN.
UM, I THINK IT'S PARAMOUNT THAT WE TAKE THE TIME TO REVIEW CIRCUMSTANCES AND UPDATE OUR ESTIMATES IN OUR PLANNING SO THAT WE DON'T END UP HAVING MISSTEPS IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE WE DIDN'T TAKE ENOUGH TIME AT THE FRONT END.
SO IF INDEED, UM, THINGS SEEM MAY SEEM TO BE TAKING LONGER THAN SOME MAY BE PRESSING FOR, UM, I WOULD, UH, URGE IN AS BOTH THE SITTING ON THE DIAS FOR THE CITY COUNCIL AND ALSO FOR CAT METRO TO THAT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT, UH, WE TAKE THE TIME NECESSARY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE, UH, THE COSTS AND REQUIREMENTS AHEAD OF US.
AND I THINK THAT IS THE MOST RESPONSIBLE PUBLIC POLICY DECISION THAT WE CAN MAKE AS WE MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER BECAUSE IT KEEPS EVERYBODY TOGETHER WITH US.
WE NEED TO ALL BE WALKING IN CONCERT AND IN COLLABORATION AND MOVING IN THE SAME DIRECTION, AND IT JUST TAKES A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME.
BUT THAT ALSO MEANS THAT WE HAVE THE BENEFIT OF MORE INFORMATION
[02:25:01]
BECAUSE WE HAVE ALLOWED OURSELVES THE LUXURY OF THE TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ACCURATE IN OUR ESTIMATES AND WE MAKE THE RIGHT STEPS MOVING FORWARD.THE SECOND PIECE, I WOULD SAY IN, IN, UM, RESPONSE TO WHAT BOARD MEMBER COOPER IS SUGGESTING, I AGREE.
I THINK WE NEED TO, UM, LOOK AT HAVING PROBABLY, UH, A GENERAL MEETING EVERY SIX MONTHS AT LEAST, UM, IN ORDER TO STAY, UH, UM, IN ORDER FOR THIS, UH, GROUP, THIS TRI-PARTY GROUP TO BE SEEN AS, AS A COHORT WORKING TOGETHER AND IN, UM, AND SHOWING THE COLLABORATION THAT EXISTS THAT'S SO CLEARLY EXISTING.
I'M SO PROUD OF THE WORK THAT OUR THREE, UM, SEPARATE STAFFS HAVE BEEN DOING TOGETHER AS ONE ENTITY.
UM, IT SEEMS SEAMLESS TO ME SITTING OVER HERE AT THIS REMOVE, AND I AM REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THAT.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT WE CHAIR THAT WE, UM, DO THIS MAYBE EVERY SIX MONTHS SO THAT WE CAN, UH, CONTINUE TO REINFORCE, UM, THE COLLABORATION AND THE VISUAL, UH, SIGNALS THAT WE ARE, ARE SENDING BY SITTING HERE TOGETHER AND TALKING, UM, AT THE, AT THE LEVEL THAT WE'RE TALKING AT AND, AND WITH THE DETAIL THAT WE'RE TALKING AT.
AND, AND JUST AGAIN, MY HEARTFELT APPRECIATION TO ALL INVOLVED FOR THE, THE REALLY, UH, FOR STRAIGHT WORK THAT IS, THAT IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED.
AND YOU, YOU DO HAVE OUR COMMITMENT THAT WE WANNA RECONVENE THE PARTIES.
ONE LESSON THAT I LEARNED FROM COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN IS THAT MAKE SURE THAT YOU KEEP EVERYONE ON THE DIOCESE YOUR SUPPORTERS FOR THIS PROGRAM.
YOU'LL SHEPHERD THIS TO SUCCESS AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU STAY HERE FOR THE ENTIRE JOURNEY HAVING THIS DIALOGUE.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE SUGGESTION.
I HAVE A QUESTION AND, AND THEN A COMMENT.
UM, SO AS I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE PRESENTING IS YOU'RE SAYING YOU'RE WORKING TO ASSESS ALL THE OPTIONS THAT WE DIFFERENT HA THAT WE HAVE.
THERE ARE GOING TO BE SOME TRADE OFFS AND THERE'S GONNA BE SOME CHOICES AND YOU'RE AIMING FOR A MEETING IN LATE SPRING-ISH WHERE WE WOULD MAKE THE DECISION, NOT THAT THERE'S NOTHING THAT HAPPENS BEFORE WE GET TO THAT POINT IN TIME.
UM, AND THAT IT IS PRUDENT TO HAVE A SENSE OF WHAT YOUR CRITERIA ARE IN BEFORE YOU FINISH DEVELOPING ALL OF THE OPTIONS SO THAT WHEN YOU EVALUATE YOUR OPTIONS, YOU KNOW WHAT, WE HAVE AN AGREED SET OF THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING TO EVALUATE, UM, THOSE OPTIONS AGAINST AND THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE US THE INFORMATION WE NEED TO, UM, MOVE THIS FORWARD.
SO THERE WAS ONE PART OF THE CRITERIA THOUGH THAT I DIDN'T HEAR IN WHAT YOU SAID.
I'M SURE IT'S EMBEDDED IN THERE, BUT I WANTED TO ASK YOU TO SPEAK TO IN MORE, MORE DIRECTLY, AND THAT IS ABOUT THE IMPACT ON BUSINESSES, UM, BOTH AS, YOU KNOW, THE, THE CONSTRUCTION IMPACT ON BUSINESSES.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT HOUSING AROUND THERE, UM, AND I KNOW THERE ARE DIFFERENT THEORIES ABOUT WHETHER IT'S HOUSING OR BUSINESSES THAT DRIVE THE TRANSIT RIDERSHIP, BUT CAN YOU SPEAK TO HOW THAT'S, HOW, HOW THE ROLE OF BUSINESSES EITHER IMPACTED BY CONSTRUCTION OR UH, BENEFICIARIES OF THE RIDERSHIP IS BEING FACTORED INTO THE CRITERIA THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT THINGS WITH? SURE.
SO I'LL, I'LL TAKE THE FIRST STAB AT THAT.
SO OBVIOUSLY, UM, CONSTRUCTION WILL BE DISRUPTIVE IN, IN SOME FORM OR FASHION.
UM, BUT THERE ARE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THAT AND DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES AND DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTION METHODS, UM, WILL LEAD TO THAT.
SO AS WE WORK OUR WAY THROUGH SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT AT GRADE TUNNEL AND, YOU KNOW, SIMPLIFIED UNDERGROUND AND, AND ELEVATED, UM, WE'LL, WE'LL TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BIG PICTURE, THE, THE LONG GAME ON IT, UM, I THINK, UM, IT'S BEEN SHOWN ACROSS THE NATION THAT, UM, LIGHT RAIL SYSTEMS, YOU KNOW, PUT A LOT OF PEOPLE IN FRONT OF BUSINESSES EVERY SINGLE DAY, UM, RIDING THROUGH, WHETHER IT BE A BUS, WHETHER OR NOT BE A LIGHT RAIL, LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM.
UM, SO I THINK A LOT OF BUSINESSES WILL, WILL GREATLY, YOU KNOW, HAVE A, A POSITIVE IMPACT AT THE END OF THE DAY.
BUT THERE IS GONNA BE, I MEAN, I DON'T WANT SUGAR COAT IT FOR ANYBODY THERE.
THERE'S IMPACT ON EVERY CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, WHETHER IT BE A, A STREET PROJECT, A UTILITY PROJECT, OR LIGHT RAIL PROJECT.
AND WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT SOMETHING AS MASSIVE AS WE'RE LOOKING AT, IT'S GONNA TAKE A SPECIAL TEAM AND A SPECIAL CONSIDERATION TO WORK WITH BUSINESSES.
UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, AND I KNOW WE'VE TALKED ABOUT A LOT OF LESSONS LEARNED.
UM, JEN AND I BOTH COME FROM THE PHOENIX AREA WHERE WE PUT IN SOME BUSINESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AND SOME DIFFERENT THINGS DURING, DURING CONSTRUCTION TO HELP BUSINESSES ALONG, UM, DURING CONSTRUCTION AREA.
BUT CAN YOU SPEAK TO THE CRITERIA PART? SO I'M NOT SAYING YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO BUSINESSES.
BUT IF WE'RE GONNA BE EVALUATING DIFFERENT OPTIONS, I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THEY'RE NOT ON YOUR CHART.
UNLESS THERE'S A EUPHEMISM FOR THEM
[02:30:01]
THAT, OR I MISSED IT, WHICH IS ALSO POSSIBLE.SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT AS WE'RE EVALUATING THESE, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, WE'RE, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THAT.
AND I DON'T WANNA GET DISTRACTED BY THE CONSTRUCTION IMPACT BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF, OBVIOUSLY POSITIVE IMPACTS AS WELL, BUT DIFFERENT SCENARIOS MIGHT HAVE DIFFERENT IMPACTS ON BUSINESS.
AND, AND I'M NOT, I'M NOT SEEING IN YOUR CRITERIA HOW, HOW YOU'RE, HOW YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT THAT.
NO, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT COMMENT ACTUALLY.
AND A LOT OF THE WORK WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW IS REALLY TO CHARACTERIZE WHAT IS GOING ON, ESPECIALLY AT THE STATION AREAS WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO SEE A LOT OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF IMPACTS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT POSITIVE, YOU KNOW, AND MAYBE LESS POSITIVE DURING CONSTRUCTION OR, OR AT OTHER TIMES.
AND SO AT THIS POINT, WE'RE REALLY CHARACTERIZING WHAT'S THERE FOR PURPOSES OF BEING ABLE TO ARTICULATE WHAT SOME OF THOSE TRADE OFFS ARE.
UM, AND I ALSO THINK THAT A REAL BENEFIT OF SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS WE'RE HAVING RIGHT NOW, UM, ESPECIALLY AS PART OF THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, IS REALLY TO INFORM THE PROGRAMS THAT WE ARE DEVELOPING, YOU KNOW, TO REDUCE THOSE IMPACTS, AVOID THEM OR REALLY BE IN A POSITION TO WORK VERY EFFECTIVELY WITH BUSINESSES, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE DO GET TO CONSTRUCTION.
AGAIN, I THINK AS YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT THE CRITERIA, CUZ THE, THE PROGRAM CHOICES OF WHERE IT GOES, ET CETERA IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT THAN ALL THE OTHER PROGRAMS, WHICH I THINK YOU HAVE THE PROGRAMS FOR THIS, I'M JUST NOT SURE FOR, FOR THE CHOICES THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND THEN THE COMMENT THAT I WANTED TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, IS KIND OF BUILDING ON, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE, THESE ARE THE CRITERIA THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT WE'RE GONNA GET THE OPTIONS FOR AND EVALUATE.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THE MEETINGS WE HAVE HERE, WE HAVE ALL OF OUR COUNCIL COMMITTEES, OUR CAT METRO COMMITTEES, WE HAVE STARTED, UM, AND ADDED, UM, DIFFERENT MEETING OPPORTUNITIES THERE FOR DIFFERENT ASPECTS.
AND I WOULD, UM, YOU KNOW, ENCOURAGE US TO CONTINUE THAT.
UM, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, NOT, THEY'RE GONNA BE LOTS OF DIFFERENT PIECES PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE INTERESTED IN, FOCUSED ON DIFFERENT PIECES, UM, AND USING THOSE DIFFERENT FORUMS TO ALLOW US TO DIVE DEEPER, THE INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS, ALL OF THOSE THINGS SO THAT WHEN WE COME TO A DECISION, WE CAN HAVE INFORMED OUR CONSTITUENTS AND GOTTEN THE FEEDBACK WE NEED, BUT ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, BE ABLE TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE IN, IN THESE SESSIONS, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
CERTAINLY, UH, THANK YOU MAYOR PROTE.
UM, AND, AND CHAIR COOPER MAYOR.
IT'S JUST TOO, UM, IS, THANK YOU FOR THIS COMMENT.
I THINK WHEN WE TALK ABOUT COMING BACK WITH DECISION, CLEARLY WE, WE, UH, WANT TO DESIGN, UM, OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH THE THREE BOARDS IN A, IN A WELL THOUGHT OUT WAY.
AND, AND WE WOULD ANTICIPATE THAT IT'S GONNA BE MORE THAN ONE CONVENING.
AND MAYOR PRO TE I THINK THIS IS A REALLY GOOD IDEA.
WE DO HAVE STRUCTURES IN PLACE AS YOU KNOW, WE, AS IT'S BEEN PART OUR INTENT REALLY STARTING BACK IN MAY TO GET OUT AND BE IN FRONT OF NOT JUST ATP BOARD.
WE'VE BEEN TO CAP METRO, I THINK WE'RE COMING, UM, HERE IN DECEMBER TO ONE OF THE COMMITTEES.
UM, WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE HAVING MULTIPLE CONVERSATIONS, EVEN IF IT'S THE SAME CONVERSATION, MULTIPLE PLACES TO GET OUT AND LISTEN.
SO I THINK IT'S A GREAT COMMENT.
WE WANT TO, WE WANT TO INTENTFULLY DESIGN OUR CONVERSATIONS OVER THESE NEXT SIX MONTHS.
UM, CLEARLY OUR INTENT IS NOT TO SAY, UM, HERE YOU GO, UM, AND HERE'S AN HOUR MEETING.
WE KNOW THAT WE WANT TO HAVE A DIALOGUE WITH THE COMMUNITY AND WITH YOU, AND THAT'S BRINGING EVERYONE ALONG AND YOU HAVE OUR COMMITMENT THAT, THAT WILL WELL, I APPRECIATE THAT.
IN JUST A QUICK, WE'RE, WE'RE IN UNCHARTED TERRITORY.
THE DOCUMENTS WITHDREW DID NOT CONTEMPLATE US BEING HERE.
UM, IT, WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE GO FORWARD PRACTICALLY FROM A GOVERNANCE STANDPOINT, FROM A DECISION MAKING STANDPOINT.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF EDUCATION THAT WE NEED TO DO.
I DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, THE RIDERSHIP MODELS THAT WE DID THAT LED TO THE DECISION TO GO A LIGHT RAIL ARE STILL, THEY MAY OR MAY NOT STILL BE GOOD, I DON'T KNOW.
BUT WE ALL AGREE WE WANT TO BE DATA DRIVEN ON ALL THIS.
AND NOT JUST BECAUSE WE LIKE SHINY TRAINS, UH, WHICH WE DO AND AT CAT METRO, BUT WE NEED TO DO THE WORK HERE.
AND, AND THAT WORK COVERS A BROAD SPECTRUM OF THINGS, I THINK.
AND SO I APPLAUD THE, THE, THE ENTERPRISE THAT WE HAVE FORMED HERE AND JUST SAY, WE'VE GOTTA DO THE, ALL THE COURSE CORRECTIONS AND DO DO THE WORK TO GET TO THE RIGHT RESULT AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN BECAUSE, UH, TIME IS MONEY AND PUBLIC EXPECTS US TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF THEIR MONEY HERE.
YES, JUST VERY QUICKLY, I WOULD, UM, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY SAID SOME OF THE THINGS I MEANT TO SAY, AND I THINK WHAT THE DIRECTION YOU'RE GOING INTO WITH A NUMBER OF MEETINGS AND CONVERSATIONS IS, IS GOOD.
UM, I DON'T WANT US TO LEAVE OR THE PUBLIC TO LEAVE THINKING THAT WHAT WE'VE SUGGESTED IS THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA DO LIGHT RAIL.
SO WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, CHAIR COOPER, I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
YOU KNOW, AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT, UM, THAT RIDERSHIP IS KEY AND I THINK IT'S ONE OF THE CRITERIA IN HERE, BUT I ALSO
[02:35:01]
DON'T WANT TO LEAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT WE'RE BACKING OFF ON LIGHT RAIL.WE'VE HAD A LONG CONVERSATION THAT LED UP TO THE DECISIONS AROUND PROCEEDING WITH LIGHT RAIL AND TO THE EXTENT THAT ANY CONDITIONS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT, YES, EVERYTHING'S TO BE DISCUSSED, BUT I ALSO DON'T WANT THIS TO BE TAKEN, UM, AS, OH, NOW EVERYTHING'S ON THE TABLE AND WE'RE GONNA REVISIT ALL THE DECISIONS THAT WE MADE.
I DON'T THINK WE WANT TO DO THAT.
I THINK WE WANT TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPACT THAT COST HAVE HAD IN THE ENVIRONMENT WE ARE IN CURRENTLY.
AND I TRUST THAT OUR STAFF ARE DOING THAT.
AND, AND WHEN, YOU KNOW, OPTIONS COME BACK IN THE SPRING, THAT CAN ALL BE DISCUSSED.
BUT, UM, I JUST WANNA BE MINDFUL OF, OF, UH, JUST FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, UH, WANNA MAKE THAT STATEMENT THAT I WANNA BE MINDFUL THAT WE WENT THROUGH A LONG PROCESS TO DETERMINE THAT THAT LIGHT RAIL CHECKED THE BOXES ON A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS WHICH HAVE NOT CHANGED.
UM, WHO DID I SKIP? DID I MISS ANYBODY? NO.
SO, UM, WITH THAT I'D REALLY LIKE TO THANK THE STAFF AGAIN FOR YOUR WISDOM AND THE HEAVY LIFT THAT Y'ALL HAVE DONE.
UM, IF AGAIN, I LIKE TO REITERATE THAT THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY ROBUST DATA THAT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED WITH OUR ANNUAL REPORT OR ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO PLEASE DOWNLOAD IT, TAKE A LOOK AT IT.
UM, I SPECIFICALLY LOVE THE QUOTE FROM ALVIN LIVINGSTON WHERE HE SAYS, PROJECT CONNECT BRIDGES COMMUNITIES, BUILDS CONNECTIONS AND CONNECTS US ALL.
SO WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO OPEN IT UP TO CHAIR PAVILION FOR ANY CLOSING REMARKS AND THEN YOU MAYOR RADLER FOR ANY FINAL THOUGHTS.
SO, UM, WELL, I THINK IT WAS A PRODUCTIVE DAY.
I, I, I THINK CERTAINLY, UH, STAFF GAVE US A LOT TO, UH, THINK ABOUT, UH, I THINK THAT OUR COLLEAGUES HAVE, HAVE ALSO OPENED, OPENED THE DOOR ON A NUMBER OF THINGS.
AND, AND WHEN I LOOKED AT, AT, UM, AT, UM, BOARD MEMBER COOPER'S COMMENTS, BASICALLY, UH, WHAT IT SAID TO ME WAS, YOU KNOW, WE, WE'VE ALWAYS GOTTA DO A CURRENT STATE ANALYSIS.
AND WE HAVE ALWAYS, UH, GOTTA BE PREPARED TO, UM, TO UNDERSTAND NOT NOT ONLY WHERE WE ARE, BUT BUT WHAT OUR PRIORITIES ARE IF, UH, THEY ARE SHIFTING.
AND I, AND I THINK THAT'S HEALTHY CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IS SOMETHING THAT I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD BE COMMITTED TO.
UM, SO, UH, WITH THAT BEING SAID, I AM, I AM, UH, PLEASED THAT WE, UH, DID MEET TODAY.
I AM COMMITTED TO MAKING SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO MEET REGULARLY.
ARE WE READY FOR US TO CALL THE MEETING AS IT WERE? OKAY, I THEN I WILL, UM, THEN WE WILL ADJOURN THE MEETING FOR THE, FROM THE CAP METRO BOARD MEMBER'S POINT OF VIEW AT 3 48.
JUST REAL QUICKLY, UH, I WANNA SAY I THINK THIS CONVERSATION IS REALLY GOOD AND OBVIOUSLY REALLY NECESSARY FOR US TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, AS PART OF THIS PROCESS, WE WERE ALL READING THAT ANALYSIS THAT WAS DONE OF TRANSPORTATION EXPANSION PROJECTS AROUND THE WORLD, UH, MANY OF WHICH HAD GONE, UM, UH, OFF THE RAIL, SO TO SPEAK.
UH, AND THERE WAS AN ANALYSIS OF WHY IT WAS THAT THEY HAD.
UH, AND WHEN YOU LOOKED AT THOSE, MOST OF THOSE WENT OFF THE RAIL, UH, BECAUSE THEY DID THIS PART OF THE PROCESS WRONG, UH, BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T STOP TO DO THIS WORK WITH THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO MAKE SURE, UH, THAT WE WERE MAKING THE BEST CHOICES AT THE POINT IN TIME AS WE WERE MOVING FORWARD, THAT INERTIA MOVED THEM PAST DECISION POINTS WITHOUT THEM DELIBERATELY MAKING THEM.
AND, UM, UH, I FEEL QUITE FRANKLY REASSURED THAT, UH, IN THIS CITY WE'RE NOT DOING THAT.
UH, SO I WOULD ALSO JOIN THEN MY COLLEAGUES HERE AT, UH, 3 48 TO ADJOURN THE CITY COUNCIL PART OF THIS MEETING.
THANK YOU MAYOR, AND I WILL BE REMISS TO NOT RECOGNIZE THE EXPERTISE AND YOUR DEDICATION, GREG, IN LEADING THIS TEAM TO SUCCESS IN MANAGING A VERY COMPLEX SET OF CHALLENGES.
WE SEE IT, WE RECOGNIZE YOU, AND WE THANK YOU.
SO WITH THAT, I REALLY, ANY FINAL THOUGHTS FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND GINA DODI? I REALLY APPRECIATE WORKING SO CLOSELY WITH ALL OF YOU AND, UH, SPENCER CRO, OUR CITY MANAGER.
YOUR STAFF IS REMARKABLE, REALLY REMARKABLE, AND THEY REALLY DESERVE AN APPLAUSE BECAUSE THEY REALLY ARE INCREDIBLE.
AND THANK YOU FOR HOSTING US TODAY.
THANK YOU FOR, THERE'S NO MORE FURTHER COMMENTS.
I'D LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING OF THE AUSTIN
[02:40:01]
TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP ADJOURN AND THE TIME IS 3:50 PM THANK YOU EVERYONE.